The demands made by the protesting Buet students are logical, but the implementation of all of those is not possible by the university alone, Vice-Chancellor Professor Saiful Islam has said.
“Fulfillment of all the demands does not fall under the jurisdiction of Buet. We already had several meetings with the government high-ups, and expect that the crisis will be resolved soon,” the VC said.
He made the remarks while talking to journalists at his office regarding the atmosphere of holding the entrance test for 2019-20 academic year.
Buet (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology) will develop a website, as per the demand from the protesting students, so that they can report any incident of abuse directly to the authorities, he added.
The vice-chancellor, however, claimed that there was never any fault or inactiveness from his side in tackling the situation.
“I hope the situation will gradually calm down. I urge the students to go back to their classroom,” said the VC, who did not make a public statement or appear for thirty-six hours after the murder of Abrar Fahad, a second year student of the university, in a dorm in the campus.
Abrar was beaten to death by some Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders, and activists for allegedly having ties to Islami Chhatra Shibir, an unsubstantiated claim which is yet to be proven.
Since his death, Buet students have been continuing their movement for the implementation of their 10-point demands.
The protest programs were suspended till today (Monday) so that the admission test could proceed smoothly.
A total of 12,161 students are scheduled to sit for the entrance test today. None of the students, however, will be allowed to stay in the halls.
“Since a drive is ongoing in Buet halls to oust the illegal tenants, no outsider or student will be able to stay in the halls. They (applicants) will have to manage the accommodation by themselves,” said the VC.
Buet entrance test at a glance
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) is scheduled to hold an entrance examination for the academic session 2019-20 from 9am to 12pm today at its campus.
The authorities requested the admission seekers to be present on campus in between 7am to 8am. The applicants have been advised to avoid possible traffic congestion so as to reach the exam centres at the earliest possible.
Mobile phones, smart watches, or any other electronic devices has been banned at the centres. Applicants have been asked only to bring the admit card, pen/pencil, and calculators of approved models with them.
