Complete Shutdown Across All Engineering Universities Over Three Demands

Students in all engineering universities across the country are observing a “complete shutdown” program demanding the fulfillment of three key demands. The program started on Thursday morning (28 August), resulting in the closure of all classes and exams at BUET and other universities.

Nasimul Islam, a fourth-year student at BUET, said, “Although today is a weekly holiday, we have boycotted our exams and are participating in the shutdown program. Except for Friday, we usually have exams on all other days.”

Earlier, on Wednesday night, the student platform “Engineering Rights Movement” announced the complete shutdown program. According to the announcement, all engineering universities in the country, including BUET, are participating in today’s program.

By 10:00 am, campus inspections at various BUET departments showed that students were absent. Golzar Hossain, a security guard at the Civil Engineering Building, said, “Since today is a weekly holiday, no one has come.”

From Tuesday afternoon, BUET students began a sit-in at Shahbagh. On Wednesday morning at 11:00 am, as part of the announced program, they blocked the Shahbagh intersection. Later, when they tried to march toward the Chief Adviser’s residence, police used sound grenades, tear gas shells, and water cannons, and incidents of baton charges occurred, leaving many students injured. They gathered again at Shahbagh in the evening and left the area around 10:30 pm.

In a nighttime briefing, Wali Ullah, president of the Engineering Rights Movement, said a council meeting would be held at the Engineers’ Institution at 5:00 pm, where the next program would be announced. Zubayer Ahmed, a fourth-year BUET student, declared the complete shutdown program across all engineering universities in the country.

The students’ three demands are:

1. Recruitment to the 9th grade Assistant Engineer post must be through exams only, and the minimum qualification should be a BSc in Engineering.
   
   

2. For the 10th grade, only diploma holders can apply; higher degree holders should not be eligible.
   
   

3. Only students who have completed a BSc in Engineering can be recruited to the Engineer (Technical) post.
   
   

The students have announced that they will continue their movement until their demands are met.