University Governance Questioned: Vice-Chancellors Face Renewed Inquiries

When political leaders receive important positions within their parties, congratulatory letters are being sent from public universities. The letters bore the signatures of the vice-chancellors. The congratulatory messages did not just carry the vice-chancellor's name; they also included the university's teachers, officers, staff, and students.

In some cases, the messages were even published as official notices from the university's public relations department. After several such incidents recently came to light at a number of public universities across the country, debate has once again flared up over the role of vice-chancellors.

The controversy is not confined to just a few congratulatory messages. Added to this are the political affiliations of newly appointed vice-chancellors and the long-standing old allegation—governments change, the ruling party's identity changes, but the culture of appointment to the top posts of public universities does not change. Alongside complaints of appointments based on partisan considerations, questions have also been raised about how vice-chancellors exercise institutional power once they assume office.

The recent controversy began around Prof. Md. Nazmus Sadat, Vice-Chancellor of Gopalganj University of Science and Technology (GUST). He sent separate congratulatory letters on the university's official letterhead to the four new members of BNP's National Standing Committee—Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, Amanullah Aman, Farhad Halim Donar, and Md. Ismail Jabiuallah. These messages conveyed greetings on behalf of the university's teachers, officers, staff, and students.

Many have raised objections over this. In their view, a vice-chancellor may personally congratulate any politician. However, sending congratulations on the official letterhead of the university, on behalf of the entire university family, to a leader of a political party does not remain within the bounds of personal courtesy; it projects an institutional stance. As a result, it is natural that questions arise about the university's apolitical character and neutrality.

Vice-Chancellor Nazmus Sadat, however, maintained that he had sent the congratulations merely as a "courtesy" upon their receiving new responsibilities.

A similar incident occurred at Khulna University. Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Md. Rezaul Karim congratulated Farhad Halim Donar on his nomination to BNP's National Standing Committee, sending a message on the institution's official letterhead on behalf of the university's students. Later, in a statement issued by the general students, they said that greetings had been sent "on behalf of the students" to a leader of a political party without any discussion or consent with them. The students pointed out that this was contrary to the university's apolitical character and neutrality.

Furthermore, a notice was issued from Jahangirnagar University's Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan congratulating Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on becoming BNP's acting secretary general. The notice, posted on the university's public relations department Facebook page, was taken down within about two hours after criticism from a section of students.
In This Context, the Question of a New Culture of Congratulating Political Leaders Using University Letterheads and PR Departments Arises

In this context, the question has also arisen whether a new culture is being created of congratulating political leaders using university letterheads and public relations departments. According to those concerned, the debate over vice-chancellors' political involvement is not new; however, the tendency to congratulate party leaders using the university's institutional identity has added a new dimension to that debate.

Academic Professor Dr. Alamgir Hossain said, "A vice-chancellor may have personal political ideology. But when he congratulates a leader of a political party on the university's official letterhead, it no longer remains his personal matter. Because that creates a message of representing the entire university." In his view, it is essential to have a clear boundary between the university's administrative identity and political identity.

"It is not enough to just look at whether there is partisan consideration in the appointment of vice-chancellors; we also need to see how vice-chancellors exercise institutional power after assuming office. If congratulating leaders of political parties on their new positions becomes a regular practice on behalf of the university, it may turn into an institutional culture in the future. This will increase the risk of division among university teachers, students, and officers based on political identity," added Professor Alamgir.

Alongside the recent controversy surrounding the vice-chancellors' activities, their appointment process has also come up for renewed discussion. There have long been allegations of political influence in the appointment of vice-chancellors at public universities in the country. Governments have changed, ruling parties have changed, but the allegation of partisan considerations in appointments has not been entirely eliminated.

After the new government took office this year, new vice-chancellors were appointed to various public universities, including Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Chittagong University, and Jagannath University. Since the past political affiliations of several of them are publicly known, questions have also been raised about their appointments.

In 2025, an initiative was taken to form search committees to reduce political influence in vice-chancellor appointments. Later, in April 2026, the Ministry of Education reorganised the search committee. The committee's task was to vet the CVs of potential candidates, prepare a shortlist of three, and recommend one for appointment. However, questions remain over the formation and effectiveness of this committee. Some experts believe that if an independent and transparent search committee led by experienced academics in higher education administration were formed, the appointment process could be made more acceptable.

The absence of a single, clear eligibility framework at the national level for becoming a vice-chancellor in public universities is another major reason for the controversy. There is no uniform standard for how aspects such as research, publications, academic leadership, administrative experience, or international recognition should be evaluated. As a result, discussions about political identity easily come to the fore during appointments.

University stakeholders say that the problem is not specific to any one party. Just as there were complaints during the Awami League government that pro-Awami League teachers got appointed to vice-chancellor and other administrative posts, similarly, questions are now being raised over the appointments of pro-BNP teachers. In other words, if only the political circle changes when the government changes, but the structure and culture of appointments remain the same, then establishing genuine university autonomy will be difficult.

Alongside politically motivated appointments, the culture of sending congratulations has also come under fresh discussion. If a university sends congratulations to a political leader upon their assumption of a party post, this could create expectations for the same treatment to be extended to leaders of other political parties in the future.

Drawing on the context of the Gopalganj University of Science and Technology vice-chancellor's congratulatory message, Professor Kamrul Hasan Mamun of Dhaka University's Physics Department, who has been critical of vice-chancellors' political involvement and the appointment process, said, "It is not just the current government; even during the previous Awami League government, there were precedents of vice-chancellors being involved in political activities."

In his view, although the political circle has changed with the change of government, the culture of partisan influence in university administration has not changed. He commented that the incident of using the university's official letterhead to congratulate leaders of a political party is a reflection of that same tendency.

The government, however, says that in vice-chancellor appointments, importance has been given to educational qualifications and competence, not political identity. Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon said, "Is it a crime for a person to do politics?" He claims that appointments have been made considering the highest performance (competence) according to each university.