Students of Barishal University’s Coastal Studies and Disaster Management Department declared department chairman and founding associate professor Hafiz Ashraful Haque unwelcome and demanded his removal. On Sunday at about 10:30am, they locked the chairman’s room, classrooms and office, then staged a sit-in before the vice-chancellor’s office with banners and slogans.

The students alleged prolonged session delays, administrative paralysis and broader mismanagement in the department. They said the chairman had previously given written assurances to resolve the session backlog but had not implemented them, disrupting academic activities. They also alleged that despite an annual development fee of Tk1,200 from each student, no visible development had occurred over the past 10 years apart from installing a classroom screen.

Through the university proctor, students spoke with the vice-chancellor by phone after finding the vice-chancellor absent from the office. They said he promised to meet them within 24 hours. Proctor associate professor Mehdi Hasan Sohag asked students to submit written complaints, saying action would follow regulations. Haque attributed the difficulties mainly to shortages of classrooms and teachers and urged students not to take such extreme action.