A deepening crisis at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) has escalated into a dramatic confrontation, with newly appointed Vice-Chancellor Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam confined inside his office building for over 16 hours without electricity, as the university’s teachers, officers, and employees announced a total non-cooperation programme demanding his removal.
As of Tuesday morning, when this report was filed, the Vice-Chancellor remained stranded inside his office at CUET, with protesting students maintaining a strict siege of the administrative building.
The standoff, now in its third week, began after the government removed former VC Professor Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem on September 21 and appointed Shariful Alam as his replacement. Students immediately launched an indefinite shutdown, demanding Sayem’s reinstatement and the cancellation of the new appointment.
On Monday morning, Shariful Alam entered the campus in a microbus and gained access to the administrative building after a lock was broken—an act that remains disputed. He was accompanied by current and former leaders of the CUET unit of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, including its president Wasif Rashed and joint general secretary Abu Sufian Al Sabit, according to reports.
Following his entry, protesting students re-locked the building’s entrance and disconnected the electricity supply, leaving the VC and several others trapped inside. By Tuesday morning, the blockade had continued for more than 16 hours, with at least two individuals inside—identified as alumni Engineer Shahriar and Engineer Titu Md. Sohan—suffering acute medical complications due to the conditions. Both were evacuated for emergency treatment after Dr. Mohammad Abdullah from the CUET Medical Center was granted entry around 1:00 AM.
Shariful Alam, speaking by telephone from inside the building, said everyone trapped had grown exhausted and ill due to the lack of ventilation and prolonged confinement.
The students have issued a clear ultimatum: they will allow the VC to leave safely only if he submits his resignation in writing or publicly announces it. “We will keep Sheikh Shariful Alam confined until our demand is met,” protesters said.
In a significant escalation, the CUET Teachers’ Association, Officers’ Association, and Staff Association jointly announced a “total non-cooperation programme and a complete work abstention” until Sayem is reinstated. At a press conference following a joint meeting on campus, Teachers Association president Professor Mohammad Ahsan Ullah declared that the three associations “rejected the new VC’s entry into the campus with the help of outsiders” and held him responsible for any untoward situation.
Earlier in the week, the crisis had already taken a financial toll. On October 6, Shariful Alam instructed the campus Sonali Bank branch to withhold September salaries and festival allowances for 1,087 teachers, officers, and employees. The payments were released only after staff staged a sit-in outside the bank branch on October 7, with the CUET Staff Association alleging the withholding was linked to their support for the ongoing movement.
As of Tuesday morning, Shariful Alam remained confined inside the administrative building, with the electricity still disconnected and the entrances locked from the outside. The impasse shows no sign of resolution, with both sides entrenched in their positions: the students and staff demanding Sayem’s return, and the newly appointed VC insisting he wants to “talk” and restore academic activities.
