Students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), observing a nearly five-hour sit-in, ended it and unlocked the administrative building after the vice-chancellor assured a date for the Sucsu election.
The protest was held from 8:30pm to 1:15am on Thursday.
The protesting students said that the university authorities had called a press conference the previous evening to announce the election date.
However, at the scheduled time, the press conference was postponed due to unavoidable reasons. Alleging a deliberate delay in the Sucsu election, the students staged a sit-in and locked the administrative building.
Leaders and activists from Islami Chhatra Shibir, Chhatra Andolan, Chhatra Majlis, and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement also participated in the protest.
Vice-Chancellor AM Sarwaruddin Chowdhury addressed the protesters during the sit-in, assuring them: “The election date will be announced after Friday evening,” and added: “The Sucsu election will be held on either December 9 or 10, and we will conduct it in a festive atmosphere.”
Satisfied with this assurance, the students ended the sit-in and unlocked the administrative building.
Earlier, the students had staged a sit-in for nearly two hours from 8:30pm in front of the administrative building. Around 10 pm, they moved to the vice-chancellor’s residence, where they remained until about 1:15am.
During this period, at around 11pm, the university’s Treasurer Ismail Hossain and Proctor Mokhlesur Rahman offered assurances, but the students rejected them.
Later, around 12:45am, Vice-Chancellor AM Sarwaruddin Chowdhury and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Shajedul Karim arrived, spoke with the students, and conveyed their decision.
Palash Bakhtiar, convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Sust, said: “The administration talks about holding the election but does not announce a date. The press conference was supposed to be on Thursday but was postponed."
He added: "We see this delay as a conspiracy to sabotage the Sucsu election. We demanded the election be held before the 8th. We are temporarily calling off the protest on the Vice-Chancellor’s assurance, but if there is further delay, stronger actions will follow.”
Regarding the postponement of the press conference, the vice-chancellor said: “A responsible person had a meeting, and another was at a medical center, so we thought Friday would be better. This caused a misunderstanding. The election will take place on either December 9 or 10.”
