SUCSU postponed: Student groups stage protest at SUST

Students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) staged demonstrations on Monday, protesting the High Court order that postponed the first SUCSU election in nearly 30 years.

Witnesses said students began a procession at the main gate around 2:10 PM and later blocked the Sylhet–Sunamganj highway, chanting slogans like “SUCSU is our right, who can stop it?” disrupting traffic.

By 5:30 PM, protesters gathered at Gol Chattar in front of the administrative building, padlocking it and confining Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof A M Sarwaruddin Chowdhury, Pro-Vice Chancellor Md Sazedul Karim and Treasurer Md Ismail Hossain. As of 6:30 PM, they remained inside.

The protest involved Durbar SUST-ian Oikya panel, backed by Islami Chhatra Shibir, along with independent candidates and general students. They also declared independent VP candidate Muminur Rashid persona non grata.

Voting was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM Tuesday (Jan 20), marking the first SUCSU election since August 25, 1997. The High Court postponed it for four weeks after a writ petition.

Delwar Hasan Shishir, a Durbar SUST-ian Oikya candidate, said, “Our only demand is that the SUCSU election must be held tomorrow. Our movement will continue until the demand is met.”

During the protest, Prof Dr Ashraf Uddin, head of the Mathematics Department, faced verbal abuse from students while leaving the campus and had to take shelter in a nearby shop.

A total of 97 candidates are contesting 23 central union posts, while 84 candidates are vying for 54 positions across six hall unions.

AM