Shawdesh Desk:

The tension around the ongoing movement at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology continued on Sunday.

On the day, the protesting students postponed their movement but boycotted all academic activities including examinations.

They are also scheduled to hold a press conference at 3:00pm on the day to announce their next course of action.

The Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League,  on Sunday held a protest rally in Central Shaheed Minar area pushing for lifting the ban on politics on BUET campus.

BUET students on Sunday boycotted examinations, continuing their protests for the third day running against politics and outsiders on the campus, vowing to continue the movement until their six-point charter of demands is met.

The students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology started the protest on Friday after the BCL had staged a showdown on the campus in the early hours of that day.

Though the protesting students on Saturday afternoon announced that they would resume their movement on Sunday at 7:00am, they postponed their programme.

One of the protesting students said that they had postponed the Sunday’s scheduled programme as most of their demands were under consideration.

‘We will meet the vice-chancellor at 1:00pm and then hold a press conference to announce our next course of action,’ he added.

The protesting students’ first demand is the permanent expulsion of Imtiaz Rabbi, a student of civil engineering, from the university for allegedly organising the showdown on Friday.

They also demanded permanent expulsion of ASM Anas Ferdous, Md Hasin Arman Nihal, Aniruddha Mazumder, Zahirul Islam Emon and Sayem Mahmud Sajedin Rifat allegedly for being involved in the incident.

The third demand is about getting an explanation from the BUET authorities as to how the outsiders had entered the campus and legal action against the outsiders.

The fourth demand is the resignation of the director of the Directorate of Students’ Welfare for the incident.

The last two demands are ensuring security for them and a written assurance that the protesters would not be harassed.

A six-member probe committee was formed by BUET authorities on Saturday to submit a report by April 8.

Meanwhile, BCL staged a protest rally in Central Shaheed Minar area from 11:00am to till 1:00pm.

They protested at the ban on doing politics on BUET campus by saying that it was an attack on people’s democratic rights.

Sound systems were also being set up outside BUET campus to broadcast the BCL directly from the event venue.

Bangladesh Muktijuddho Moncha in a press release on Saturday demanded withdrawal of the ban on politics on the BUET campus and added that they would form committee at the university soon.

They are also scheduled to hold a human chain and protest rally on DU campus on Sunday at 4:00pm.

BUET authorities banned student politics on the campus four days after protests broke out across country following the brutal murder of Abrar Fahad, a second-year student of the university.

Abrar was beaten to death by then leaders and activists of the university unit BCL over his Facebook post criticising the government’s deals with India on October 7, 2019.

In a murder case filed in this connection, on December 8, 2021, the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced 20 accused to death and five other accused to life-term imprisonment.

The protesting students’ first demand is the permanent expulsion of Imtiaz Rabbi, a student of civil engineering, from the university for allegedly organising the showdown on Friday.

They also demanded permanent expulsion of ASM Anas Ferdous, Md Hasin Arman Nihal, Aniruddha Mazumder, Zahirul Islam Emon and Sayem Mahmud Sajedin Rifat allegedly for being involved in the incident.

The third demand is about getting an explanation from the BUET authorities as to how the outsiders had entered the campus and legal action against the outsiders.

The fourth demand is the resignation of the director of the Directorate of Students’ Welfare for the incident.

The last two demands are ensuring security for them and a written assurance that the protesters would not be harassed.

A six-member probe committee was formed by BUET authorities on Saturday to submit a report by April 8.