Education Adviser Dr Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar on Tuesday urged students of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Kuet) to withdraw their hunger strike, but the protesting students, demanding the vice-chancellor's resignation, remained firm.
Abrar made the appeal during a phone conversation with the protesting students at Kuet. Following the conversation, the students said they would continue their hunger strike until the resignation of the vice-chancellor.
A student who spoke with the adviser said Abrar expressed concern about the students' health risks amid the ongoing protest, urging them to call off the hunger strike, considering their physical condition.
The adviser assured the students that the government is aware of their demands and said a high-level delegation will soon visit Khulna to review the situation by holding discussions with Kuet authorities, teachers, and students, and will take necessary measures to resolve the ongoing crisis.
The student also said they informed the adviser that they will continue their hunger strike until the VC resigns.
As of 7:45pm, the hunger strike had entered its 28th hour, with several students falling ill.
Among them, two students from the Mechatronics Engineering batch of 2023 and the CSE batch of 2021 were taken to the university’s medical centre after falling ill around 12:30pm.
Medical centre officials provided treatment, while two other students who became seriously ill were taken home by their guardians.
Meanwhile, Information Adviser Mahfuj Alam said in a Facebook post that he has discussed the Kuet student movement issue with the education adviser.
He said the adviser has already spoken with the students, and a University Grants Commission (UGC) delegation will soon visit Kuet to assess the situation on the ground before taking action according to the rules.
A protesting student said the Kuet vice-chancellor must be removed or resign. “It feels like the temperature is around 45 degrees Celsius in Khulna. We do not know how long we can survive in such conditions,” he said.
The student added that although the education adviser informed them that an investigation committee will be sent to Kuet, the students rejected the move.
“Why send an investigation committee instead of removing the VC?” he questioned.
Late on Monday night, several university officials, including the director and assistant director of the Student Welfare Office, requested the students to end their hunger strike.
They also tried to offer juice to break the strike, but the students refused to comply.
