The High Court has ordered a four-week suspension of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) Central Students’ Union (SHACSU) and hall council elections following a writ petition filed by an independent candidate. The decision has sparked strong reactions among students, who took to the streets demanding that the vote be held as scheduled.

As of 5:30 p.m. on Monday, protesters were gathered at the university’s main gate, blocking the Sylhet–Sunamganj regional highway and staging a sit-in. Chanting slogans such as “SHACSU is our right, no one can take it away,” the students called for the immediate continuation of the electoral process.

Participants in the protest included members of the Islami Chhatra Shibir–backed “Durbar SUSTian Oikko Panel,” the “General Unity Voice” panel, independent contenders, and many ordinary students.

After a gap of nearly 28 years, voting was supposed to begin on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. However, the High Court’s order issued on Monday put the process on hold for four weeks.

Earlier in the afternoon, demonstrators spoke to journalists and declared independent vice-presidential candidate Muminur Rashid, who filed the writ, to be unwelcome on campus. Faisal Hossain, an independent candidate for the general secretary post, said the university authorities had applied to the chamber court and that the road blockade would continue until a hearing takes place.

Meanwhile, eight teachers aligned with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have resigned from their roles as election commissioners, citing concerns that the administration’s conduct has compromised the fairness of the election environment. At a press briefing around 12:30 p.m., Ashraf Uddin, president of the Nationalist Teachers’ Forum, stated that in addition to the resignations, between 100 and 150 BNP-leaning teachers would also refrain from election duties.

The names of six of the resigned commissioners were made public: Professor Mohammad Saiful Islam, Rezoan Ahmed, Md. Mahbubul Alam, Md. Ashraf Siddiqui, Md. Mizanur Rahman, and G.M. Rabiul Islam.

Separately, leaders of the Jamaat-oriented University Teachers’ Link (UTL), SUST chapter, held a press conference in the early afternoon. Their general secretary Mohammad Saiful Islam said they had met with the vice-chancellor and urged the administration to complete the necessary legal steps swiftly if the court ruling goes against the election. He also assured students that there was no reason for concern and that the election should proceed on time.

Earlier, protesters had locked the administrative building around 12:30 p.m., effectively confining the vice-chancellor A.M. Sarwar Uddin Chowdhury, pro-vice-chancellor Md. Sazedul Karim, and treasurer Md. Ismail Hossain inside. They remained there at the time of the latest update.

The demonstrations began in the morning, around 10:15 a.m., when candidates and students gathered on campus. They also protested a sit-in by the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal in front of the Election Commission office over three demands related to the SHACSU polls. By 2:10 p.m., the protesters had moved to block the Sylhet–Sunamganj highway, causing heavy traffic congestion on both sides.