The Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX) is a monument to the development of this country’s economy. The Textile and Garments based development that Bangladesh is seeing today is because of the brilliant minds this industry has produced for a century.
On this “BUTEX Day”, not only did we celebrate the birthday of our glorious university, but we also celebrated a hundred-year completion of this magnificent institute. The journey from a technical institution in Narinda to the Bangladesh University of Textiles has seen many changes in history and many difficulties. On 22nd December 1921, the British government opened the British Weaving school as a technical institute to provide technical knowledge for growing weaving industries in Dhaka. When British rulers left, the name was first changed to East Bengal Textile Institute.
In 1950, it was changed again to East Pakistan Textile Institute (EPTI). EPTI was moved from Narinda to Tejgaon Industrial are in 1960. Then, after the liberation war, with direct support from the father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, EPTI continued its journey in a new, free Bangladesh.
In 1978, EPTI turned in to the College of Textile Engineering & Technology (CTET) and was approved by the government to provide a Bachelor’s degree of Science in Textile Engineering. After a long wait of almost 32 years, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved CTET as a Public University of Engineering and named it the Bangladesh University of Textiles. Hence the birth of the name BUTEX.
The centennial celebration started with a rally around the Begunbari-Hatirjheel area. Honorable Vice-chancellor, Registrar, teachers, students, ex-students all joined in this rally and sang and danced in BUTEX’s name.
The rally ended at the campus with students dancing and chanting the name BUTEX. Honourable guests, Engineer Md Mozaffar Hossain (Elected MP, Jamalpur-5), Engineer Md Abul Kashem (Vice-chancellor, BUTEX), Dr Shah Alimuzzaman Belal (Registrar, BUTEX) reminisced about their time in then named CTET, how they saw the country’s economy turned in to textile dependant from an agricultural one.
The first part of the BUTEX departmental cultural segment took place before our Chief Guest, Dr Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal MP, Honourable Home Minister of Bangladesh Government, took the stage. His presence made this function fulfilled and grand.
In his emphatic speech, he mentioned how BUTEX has contributed to the growth of Bangladesh’s economy by giving this country its best engineers and industrialists. He also mentioned how Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of our nation, always envisioned the day weaving and textile will lift this country from its “low-income” depths and how profound BUTEX’s role was to contribute to that vision.
After the Chief Guest’s departure, several departments showed their excellence in the second part of the cultural segment. Students and teachers alike clapped and jammed with the sheer atmosphere created by them. After the departmental cultural segment was over, one of the most renowned musical bands of Bangladesh, Chirkutt, took the stage, and BUTEX was livid.
Butexians were screaming lyrics of Chirkutt’s most famous songs and the band themselves were surprised by how enthusiastic and energetic the BUTEX crowd was. The day concluded with BUTEX students of past and present hugging themselves, celebrating their friendship and brotherhood. From 1921 to 2021, after a century of its inception, BUTEX’s contribution to this country’s economy and fight against poverty is finally showing fruition.
The textile sector contributes almost 85% of this country’s total GDP and the heroes responsible for this, the textile engineers are almost exclusively Ex-Butexians. As Bangladesh celebrates its golden jubilee of Independence, new challenges await, new goals are targeted and the Textile sector is expected to be at the forefront of this new journey. BUTEX and Butexians will keep on leading this country’s development from the forefront through all challenges, to all new milestones.
