BUET Students Continue Exam Boycott

Academic activities have resumed at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology after Eid holidays, but the students of Buet pressed on with a boycott of exams, demanding the restoration of a ban on politics on the campus. They say they will not take exams or go to classrooms without assurances of a politics-free campus.

The university authorities sought the students’ cooperation to overcome the stalemate and face the legal challenge against the ban.

The students did not sit the term final exams for the 21st batch on Wednesday and for the 22nd batch on Thursday after the end of the Eid holidays. No classroom lessons were scheduled for these two days over the exams.

On Friday, the demonstrators said they would also boycott Saturday’s exams of the 20th batch.

They said they would return to academic activities if the authorities file an appeal challenging the recent High Court order that stayed the notice banning politics on the campus. They also demand the authorities to reschedule the boycotted exams.

In this regard Vice-Chancellor Satya Prasad Majumder said they would decide on the appeal upon consultation with their legal adviser after getting a copy of the High Court order.

The exams will be rescheduled at the Academic Council’s meeting, he said. An official said the council is set to sit on Saturday.

BUET clamped the ban in 2019 after the killing of student Abrar Fahad by activists of the ruling Awami League’s student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League.