Amidst the ongoing student-led 'complete shutdown' at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor (VC) Professor Shaikh Shariful Alam entered his office after breaking the padlock.
He entered the campus at around 9:00 am on Monday.
According to university sources, the VC arrived on campus in a HiAce microbus. At the main gate, he identified himself only as a ‘teacher’. He later went to the vice-chancellor’s office with Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) leaders, breaking the lock on the entrance.
During an on-the-spot visit to the VC building in the morning, he was seen sitting in the Vice-Chancellor's chair. CUET unit Chhatra Dal President Wasif Rashed, Joint General Secretary Abu Sufian Al Sabit and Organising Secretary Biplob Hossain were present in his room.
When asked, Abu Sufian Al Sabit told Prothom Alo, "We entered together."
Professor Shaikh Shariful Alam is a faculty member of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET). On 21 September, he was appointed as the VC of CUET, replacing Professor Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem.
However, protesting the appointment and demanding Sayem’s reinstatement, students began a ‘complete shutdown’ the following day.
As part of the protest, they locked the entrance to the vice-chancellor’s office. Teachers, officials and staff have also been observing a work strike since that day with the same demand. As a result, classes and exams at CUET have remained suspended for 20 days.
Facing protests from teachers, students and staff, the new VC had not been able to enter the CUET campus until now. However, he officially assumed his duties on 24 September by sending his joining letter to the President and the secretary of the Ministry of Education.