Published: 11:36 AM, 10 September 2026
CoU students demand lower viva marks
Students and activists of active political organizations at Comilla University (CoU) staged a protest demanding the withdrawal of the decision to raise viva marks for 11th to 20th-grade government jobs.
The protest was held on Wednesday around 11:00 AM at the university's Gol Chattar, where demonstrators voiced their strong opposition to the increase in viva marks.
During the demonstration, protesters chanted slogans such as "The student community has awakened," "Viva or merit? Merit, merit!", "Where the quota went, the viva will follow," "Politicization in the name of viva will not be tolerated," and "Farcical recommendations will not be tolerated."
They demanded the immediate cancellation of the decision to increase viva marks, warning of a street movement to bring down the government if their demands are not met.
Naim Bhuiyan, convener of Cumilla South District Chhatra Shakti, said, "There is no sector or institution left that hasn't been politicized. In the 54 years of independence, we haven't seen such politicization. Standing on the sacrifice of 1,400 martyrs from the '24 mass uprising, this government has pushed politicization to its absolute limit. They even want to politicize 11th to 20th-grade employee appointments. I want to tell Prime Minister Tarique Rahman that if you wish to return to those fascist ways, the students of Bangladesh will not tolerate it."
Saiful Islam, General Secretary of the university's Chhatra Shibir unit, said, "Standing on the blood of 1,400 martyrs and 20,000 injured who fought against discrimination, this government came to power only to choose the path of discrimination once again. The decision taken by the government is suicidal. If the government does not back down from this decision, this movement will spread like wildfire across the country. If this movement spreads nationwide, you will have no way left to retreat."
>>Md Raki Ul Hasan in CoU
