SUST reopens after students block the VC’s office for 21 hours

Sylhet’s Shahjalal University of Science and Technology has been reopened after 21 hours of a student siege of the vice-chancellor’s office by leaders and activists from the university’s cultural organisations.

The university had ordered students to vacate the halls for 17 days after a clash between two factions of the Awami League’s student wing.

The protesters alleged that the VC was responsible for starting the campus clashes and the closure was an attempt to supress a movement against him and the ‘lack of transparency’ in the administration.

The decision to reopen the university was taken during an emergency meeting of the university Syndicate on Thursday from 9 to 11:15 am, said Syndicate member Md Kabir Hossain.

On Tuesday, two factions of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) clashed on the campus with locally-made bombs.

Protesters laid siege to the office of Vice Chancellor Aminul Haque Bhuiyan from 2pm on Wednesday and prevented him from leaving. They also cut the power lines around 5:30pm.

Syndicate Member Kabir Hossain said, “All classes will begin from today. The three halls ordered closed will be open from Sunday.”

The protesters ended their siege after the decision was made and the VC has returned to his bungalow.

Sarwar Tushar, a spokesperson for the protesters, said “The siege has been lifted as the administration has reversed its decision to close the university. However, as our other demands are yet to be met, the protests against the VC will continue.”

The spokesperson had previously accused the VC of instigating the clashes.

“The VC tried to suppress our protests against the lack of transparency in the administration by deliberately provoking instability on the campus.”

Registrar Md Ishfaqul Hossain had informed protesters about the emergency meeting of the syndicate around 1am on Thursday, but the siege was not called off before the official announcement of the reopening at 11 am.