Cucsu leaders protest reappointment of teacher amid alleged links to Chhatra League

Members of the Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (Cucsu) today protested the reappointment of assistant professor Hasan Mohammad Roman in the university’s law department, citing alleged links to the banned organisation Chhatra League.

At a press conference today, the student body also addressed what it described as "cyberbullying" and "threats" against its leaders, media coverage portraying the incident as a “mob action”, and recent recruitment-related controversies at the university.

The conference took place at Cucsu’s building at 1:00pm.

Cucsu Vice-President Ibrahim Hossain Rony criticised the continued presence of teachers he described as “collaborators of the fascist regime” in universities, even after the 2024 mass student uprising.

“These so-called teachers have, for years, oppressed students, harassed those involved in democratic movements, carried out political repression, and played active roles in favour of the banned Chhatra League,” he said.

The student leaders issued a statement after the press conference, defending their actions under Section 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, which allows a person to temporarily detain an individual when a cognisable, non-bailable offence is witnessed and hand them over immediately to law enforcement.

“In that context, it is neither legally nor morally acceptable to label the responsible actions of Cucsu representatives as a ‘mob’,” the statement said.

They alleged that repeated requests to the university administration to file a case against Roman were ignored. When Cucsu representatives attempted to lodge a complaint at a police station, it was reportedly not accepted. With no case recorded, the administration released Roman that night, the statement added.

Rejecting media reports branding the incident as “mob action” or “harassment”, Cucsu said video footage from journalists present at the scene shows no violence occurred.

The press conference also highlighted organised cyberbullying, character assassination, and death threats targeting Cucsu Joint Student Welfare Secretary Jannatul Ferdous Rita and other female leaders following protests over Roman.

Cucsu claimed that obscene content generated using artificial intelligence was being circulated against them, which constitutes a criminal offence, and demanded identification of the perpetrators, legal action, and security measures for its female leaders.

On recruitment issues, Cucsu urged the university to disclose detailed information on all appointments under the Right to Information Act.

The protest follows an incident on January 10 when Cucsu leaders heckled Roman, who is reportedly aligned with the Awami League, and handed him over to the proctor’s office. Roman was supervising the ‘B’ unit admission test for the 2025–26 academic session at Gallery 1 at the time. He was released later that night after about eight and a half hours in the proctor’s office.