CUET VC holds syndicate meeting, no teacher attends

Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) Vice-Chancellor Prof Sheikh Shariful Alam called an online syndicate meeting amid the ongoing shutdown, but none of the university’s teacher members joined him.

The meeting was held online on Friday (October 16) evening. It discussed normalising academic activities and ending the deadlock, but no major decision was taken.

The shutdown has been going on alongside work abstention and non-cooperation by teachers, officers and employees.

Prof Zahidur Rahman of Jahangirnagar University, a syndicate member, took part in the meeting. He said none of CUET’s six teacher members, apart from the VC, were present. He said the VC himself would give details of the meeting.

Chattogram Divisional Commissioner Md Ziauddin, also a syndicate member, said no major decision was made. The members reviewed the current situation and discussed how to normalise academic activities. They also gave opinions on removing any misunderstanding or communication gap among the parties concerned.

A movement demanding a change of VC has been going on at CUET since September 22. On Monday morning, Prof Sheikh Shariful Alam broke the lock of the VC’s building with Chhatra Dal leaders and entered his office. The protesting students locked the gate again, and he was confined inside. He was taken out of the campus on Tuesday, nearly 30 hours later, with the help of the district administration and police.

After treatment at a hospital, he returned to the campus on Thursday noon and called the syndicate meeting. Friday was the 25th day of the students’ total shutdown.

The CUET syndicate has 17 seats, including the VC. With the posts of pro-VC and registrar vacant, the effective number of members is 15. After the meeting, 14 of them were contacted, but only five gave their views.

Prof Md Rashidul Hasan, dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, said he could not join as he was on leave. Prof Md Mostafa Kamal said he did not attend because his mother was ill. Several other teacher members of the university could not be reached for comment.

Engineer Firoz Khan Noon Faraji, an external syndicate member, said he could not join because he was busy. Some other members could not be reached.

It could not be confirmed whether the meeting took any specific decision on resuming classes and exams or ending the deadlock. Repeated attempts to reach the VC on his mobile phone failed.

-EM