I am pleased to welcome you all to the Website of Chittagong University Ex-Students Association UK (CUESAUK). You will appreciate, now we live in an era of social media and we are very much reliant on internet to find information on everything. Thus, we have decided to create a Website of our Organisation in order to disseminate information to all our members, and improve our understanding and friendship, living here in the UK and globally.

As we are going to have our Reunion, scheduled for 15th of September2024, this Website will help us all the Ex-Students of ChittagongUniversity, residing in UK and globally, to register themselves and make the payments to secure their places for the event easily.

I, on behalf of CUESAUK, would like to give a special thanks to our dear Brother Dip Narayon Sharma for creating this Website! We really appreciate his hard work and commitment for this achievement.

Some of us possibly do not know much about our organisation; hence I would like to provide with you a brief history of Chittagong University Ex-Students Association UK. It was in mid-September 1996, our formerly Vice-Chancellor, Late Professor Abdul Aziz Khan, came to London. When I heard the news, having communicated with some of ourex-students of Chittagong University, living in the UK, held a meeting in my office” Aerospace Travel Agents Ltd” in London E1 5LP. We had a discussion as to how to organise the Reception Programme, in honour of our beloved Sir Professor Abdul Aziz Khan. Then it was decided unanimously that we should form an Organisation of ex Students of Chittagong University, residing in the UK. After a few days, another meeting was held at my house, 4 John Pritchard House, London E1 5AS, where a Convening Committee, consisting of 3 key officers was formed. The three officers were respectively, Saleh Ahmed, as President, Avijit Dhar Bappi as General Secretary and A.K.M Yahya (myself) as Treasurer.

The very first event of the CUESA UK was the ReceptionProgramme, organised in honour of the late Professor Abdul Aziz Khan, ex- Vice-Chancellor of Chittagong University. Fortunately, one of our ex CHUCSU President Mr ASM Fazlul Haque was also present at this reception. It was a huge success as large number of ex-Students of our university attended the reception with a short notice.

Shortly afterwards, we had another meeting at my office to form a full Committee, as we intended to involve maximum number of students in the Organisation. In that meeting, a full Committee of 29 members was formed. Subsequently, we decided to have a Reunion of Chittagong University ex Students, residing in the United Kingdom. With the interest and inspiration of all the students, we organised our first Reunion on a Ship on the Thames on 13th July 1997. A considerable number of CU ex-Students participated in the Reunion along with their families. The former Vice- Chancellor, Professor Abdul Mannan, attended the Reunion as Chief Guest of the occasion. It was a stupendous success where everyone enjoyed and had great time with fellow members.

Since then, many years elapsed, we could not organise further such events due to constraint of time and other commitments. However, in 2016, members of the Organisation showed eagerness and interest again to organise another Reunion, with a view to activating the Organisation promoting understanding and solidarity amongst membership. Eventually, we organised our second Reunion, which took place at Mulberry Girls’ School London, E1. Fortunately, our Sir,Professor Abdul Mannan attended the Reunion as Chief Guest of the programme again, at that time, he was holding the position of Chairmanship of the University Grants Commission, Bangladesh. The Vice-Chancellor of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Professor Dr Md Alauddin, also attended as Special Guest who was previously teaching as a Professor at University of Chittagong. We had our 3rdReunion in 2019, which was held at Mayfair Venue, Romford, EssexRM6 4BD. The whole Programme was very successful as a large number of Ex- Students of CU attended the Programme with their families.

During the Pandemic period, we were unable to organise any activities for our members due to restrictions on socialisation and movement, imposed by the Government. In June 2023, we had our BGM at London Enterprise Academy, London E1. A New Executive Committee was formed for the next two years. A.K.M. Yahya (myself) was elected as President, S.M Abu Naser Talukder as General Secretary and Mashuk Ahmed as Treasurer. The list of Executive Committee members is published on the Website. Since the formation of the New Committee, we have been working diligently in order to increase participation and co-operation amongst our members. So far, we have written a draft constitution and opened a bank account with Lloyds Bank Plc in the name of our Organisation, which will be helpful to our members to pay their fees, contributions or subscriptions easily. Moreover, we have been planning and started working for organising our long-awaited Reunion. I am delighted to inform you that the draft constitution was presented to and approved unanimously by the EC members in our last EC meeting, held on 9thJune, 2024. I would like to thank all the members of the Constitution Sub-Committee for their hard work in writing the draft Constitution. At the same meeting, we were able to finalise the date of our Reunion scheduled for the 15th of September, 2024. We also formed a number of Sub-Committees in order to organise the Reunion in an orderly and proficient manner. I am overwhelmed to see the interest and commitment shown by our members, in organising this upcoming event. We will be holding our EC and Sub-Committee meetings on a regular basis in order to plan and organise various activities of the day successfully. Additionally, we organised an Iftar and Dua Mafil in the month of Ramadan 2024, which was well attended. In conclusion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the members of CUESAUK for their help and commitments in the developmentof our beloved Organisation, “Chittagong University Ex-Students Association UK”, since the early stages until to date.

And finally, “A Big Thank You” to all our General Members and Respected Advisors for the unconditional support, which you have given to us, myself and the New Committee.

A.K.M. Yahya
President
Chittagong University Ex-Students Association UK.