CUET Vice-Chancellor Taken to Hospital After 30 Hours Blockaded in Office
The newly appointed vice-chancellor of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), Sheikh Shariful Alam, was removed from his office and sent to hospital on Tuesday evening after being confined inside the building for roughly 30 hours, according to BBC Bangla.
The district administration and police negotiated with protesting students to secure his release, and he was taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital because of ill health, police said.
Chittagong's superintendent of police, Mohammad Masud Alam, told BBC Bangla that the vice-chancellor had become seriously unwell and had a right to treatment. He described the situation as highly sensitive and said students had been spoken to and had understood the matter.
Why it matters
The standoff at CUET has halted all academic activity at the university for 22 days, with classes, examinations and other functions suspended amid protests by students and teachers against the new vice-chancellor.
It also raises questions about how far campus disputes in Bangladesh can escalate before they require intervention by district authorities and police, and about the political alignments that protesters say are shaping the confrontation.
How the blockade unfolded
The dispute began after the Ministry of Education issued a notification on 21 September 2026 removing CUET vice-chancellor Professor Dr Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem and appointing Professor Dr Sheikh Shariful Alam, a professor at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), in his place.
Students began protesting the following day, 22 September, demanding the reinstatement of the former vice-chancellor and announcing a "complete shutdown." The teachers' association and the officers and employees' association declared work stoppages in solidarity.
According to BBC Bangla, students argue that the university regained development momentum and academic discipline under Professor Sayem, and that his removal was carried out without any stated reason they find acceptable. Because of the protest, the new vice-chancellor was unable to come to campus for nearly three weeks after his appointment.
Protesters say the vice-chancellor's office had been locked since 22 September. On Monday morning, according to protesting teachers and students, the new vice-chancellor entered his office after breaking the lock, accompanied by leaders of the Chhatra Dal student wing and several former and current students.
When word spread that he was on campus, students began gathering in front of the administrative building from around 9:30am. They set a deadline for him to leave the campus. After that deadline passed, at about noon they padlocked the main gate of the building again and cut off its electricity and water supply, leaving the vice-chancellor and several people with him trapped inside.
Protesting students and teachers announced that the vice-chancellor would not be allowed to leave his office until he resigned. The vice-chancellor said he had taken the post on the government's instructions and would act according to the government's decisions, indicating he was not inclined to step down.
Several people who had been inside with him fell ill during the roughly 30-hour confinement, and the vice-chancellor said he himself had become unwell. Speaking to BBC Bangla on Tuesday afternoon, Professor Dr Sheikh Shariful Alam said they had not been allowed to go to hospital even after falling sick, though doctors from the university medical centre treated them.
On Tuesday evening, Chittagong's deputy commissioner and superintendent of police held talks with protesting students and teachers to prevent a confrontation, which led to the vice-chancellor being allowed to leave.
Protest continues despite release
Students say the protest will go on even though the vice-chancellor has been freed. They insist he must announce his resignation before leaving the campus, and say food was being supplied to those confined inside the administrative building.
Student Arindam Dey told BBC Bangla that protesters had told the vice-chancellor from the start to announce his resignation and leave, but that he had not done so. Dey said students were further angered because the vice-chancellor broke the lock with political leaders present after students had padlocked the building.
The unrest has also drawn allegations of political involvement. The presence of Chhatra Dal leaders and activists with the vice-chancellor when he broke into his office has become a subject of debate.
At a news conference, students alleged that the new vice-chancellor arranged attacks on buses carrying students at Madunaghat, Bahaddarhat and Chandgaon terminal in order to hold on to his position. BBC Bangla reports that no comment from Sheikh Shariful Alam on the allegation was available, and that he avoided the outlet's question on the matter.
Protesting students also say Professor Dr Sheikh Shariful Alam entered the campus with outsiders, and that after these events they are no longer willing to accept him as vice-chancellor.
Separately, students at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) were scheduled to hold a rally on Wednesday in solidarity with the CUET movement, according to Dainik Shiksha.
What to watch next: whether the government responds to the students' demand to reinstate the former vice-chancellor, and whether CUET's academic shutdown extends beyond its 22nd day.
