Buet students boycott academics to protest BCL being allowed back on campus

The students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) have boycotted all sorts of academic activities after witnessing the ruling party's student front, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), staging a return to political activity on the campus.

Buet students have renounced student front politics on behalf of political parties on their campus since a group of BCL activists were implicated in torturing a first year student, Abrar Fahad, till his death over the course of a macabre night on the Buet campus in 2019.

The BCL has since tried sporadically to bring politics back, or political programmes specifically, on the campus but met with resistance from the students on each occasion, and the latest incident would seem to fall in that line of succession.

On Thursday, BCL president Saddam Hussain along with other central leaders and activists of BCL entered Buet campus where Imtiaz Rahim Rabbi, a Buet student and executive member of BCL central panel, was present and "played a vital role" in facilitating their entry. Thereafter, some leaders and activists of newly-formed BCL committees presented floral bouquets to the president.

The general students of Buet marked this entrance of BCL in a group as aimed at communicating their presence on the campus -- to test the waters as it were, as part of a conspiracy to revive student politics on the Buet campus.

Buet students wasted no time in staging day-long demonstration on the campus demanding safe campus and strict measures against any Buet students found to have conspired with the BCL leaders.

Hundreds of students joined the demonstration expressing solidarity with the movement from the morning and held a press briefing, where they declared their opposition to "using Buet campus for political motives", and immediately boycotted all academic activities including the scheduled classes and exams of 30 and 31 March.

Their demands include suspending any Buet students involved from halls and departments for violating the university's regulations; specifically they demand action against "involved" Imtiaz Rahim Rabbi.

They also asked for safety guarantees for those protesting, the Buet administration's stance on the incident, safety and security of all the protesting students with assurances in a written format and making sure that they face no harassment.

The students also demanded the resignation of the Directorate of Students' Welfare's leadership, saying it has failed to do its job.