Kuet withdraws suspension of students
With Kuet students continuing a hunger strike demanding the resignation of the vice-chancellor, the university authorities yesterday withdrew the suspension of 37 students and reopened all seven dormitories.
The decision was made during a syndicate meeting, said Anisur Rahman Bhuiyan, registrar of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Kuet).
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The suspension orders were withdrawn after a review of the situation, he told The Daily Star.
Classes are scheduled to resume on May 4, said a Kuet press release issued following the meeting.
Although the university officially announced the reopening of the dormitories yesterday, students forcibly entered six male dormitories on April 15 and broke the locks of the only female dormitory on Tuesday.
Education Adviser CR Abrar yesterday visited the university and spoke to students on hunger strike, urging them to end the protests and trust the ongoing investigation, but the students refused.
A three-member delegation from the University Grants Commission (UGC) also met the protesting students on the campus yesterday morning to review their demands and promised appropriate action.
Out of the 32 students participating in the hunger strike, nine reportedly fell ill and received medical care. Till filing of the report last night, 23 were continuing their hunger strike demanding the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Prof Muhammad Masud.
Another section of students brought out a procession on the campus around 6:30pm to press home their demand.
However, the teachers' association of Kuet said at a press conference yesterday that it would not accept the resignation of the VC solely on the demand of the protesting students.
Meanwhile, students of Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, Rajshahi, and Khulna universities held different programmes in solidarity with the Kuet students.
In another development, the University Teachers' Network, a coalition of private and public university teachers, in a statement yesterday expressed solidarity with the Kuet students.
At Dhaka University, a group of 16 students from the Bangladesh Democratic Students Council has been continuing a hunger strike since Tuesday.
Early Wednesday, several leaders of the National Citizen Party, including Hasnat Abdullah, joined the protests and expressed solidarity with them.
According to the Kuet protesters, members of a student body and other outsiders attacked students on the campus on February 18.
Although a police case was filed, it lacked specific details, and no arrests have been made. Meanwhile, a counter-complaint filed by an outsider named 22 students with specific information, including names, departments, and roll numbers.
The university had suspended the 37 students over the incident.
[Our correspondents from respective universities contributed to this report.]
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