BUET students spread blood on campus

Dhaka, Sep 3 The demonstrating students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), seeking ouster of their Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor, took blood out of their bodies using syringes and spread it on stairs in front of the VC office.

Around 12:15pm on Monday, the students gathered in front of the civil engineering building of the university and took out blood from their bodies and took out a procession on the campus.

They termed this programme as 'voluntary blood shedding'.

After the procession, they spread the collected blood on the stairs in front of VC Professor S M Nazrul Islam's office around an hour later.

Several protesting teachers reportedly also took part in the programme by giving their blood.

The students and teachers of Bangladesh's premiere engineering university have been demonstrating seeking ouster of their VC and Pro-VC.

Before kicking off the day's programmes, representative of the students, Ahsanul Kabir Sumon of the Department of Chemical Engineering, told a press meet that the VC's stance had not changed despite their peaceful demonstrations.

"We have come to know that he (VC) had left Khulna University after blood was shed there. Do you want our blood, too? If you do, you don't need to send in your cadres. We're giving you blood. Please leave the BUET," he had said.

The BUET authorities had filed two cases at the Shahbagh Police Station on Sunday accusing around a hundred teachers and students of attacking on the offices of the Vice Chancellor and Pro-VC, vandalism, ransacking records and looting Tk 0.3 million.

Sumon demanded immediate withdrawal of cases alleging that those cases were filed to kill their movement.

Immediately after the cases were filed, police went to the campus and cordoned off the demonstrators for some time, hiking tension in the area.

The demonstrators have claimed that activists of the ruling party's student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, kicked the doors of the offices when they swooped on the VC and Pro-VC's offices on Sunday. They added that they were not responsible.