Sanzida Ahmed Tonni, who was injured during the July mass uprising, has been elected by a large margin as the Research and Publication Secretary of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU).
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, she stated that she would make every effort to uphold the trust placed on her by the voters.
Polling for the DUCSU and hall union elections took place on Tuesday, with the final results announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday morning.
Sanzida contested as an independent candidate for the Research and Publication Secretary post.
In this post nine candidates were in total. According to the official results, she secured 11,778 votes, the highest among the contenders. Her closest rival, Md Sazzad Hossain Khan, obtained 7,189 votes, meaning she won by a margin of 4,589 votes.
Sanzida is a student of the Clinical Psychology Department, enrolled in the 2019–20 academic session at Dhaka University.
Following her victory, she posted from her verified Facebook page at around 1:00pm on Wednesday.
In her post, she wrote, “I shall not diminish those who sincerely assisted me during this challenging electoral journey by offering mere thanks. I am deeply grateful to all who cast their votes and placed their trust on me. I will make every possible effort to uphold that trust. As Research and Publication Secretary, I am eager to work in coordination with the other candidates. I also welcome your advice and continued support.”
Sanzida had previously sustained injuries on 15 July last year, when members of the now-banned Chhatra League attacked Dhaka University’s campus during the July uprising.
In her honour, several student panels, including the Chhatra Dal, refrained from nominating a candidate for the Research and Publication Secretary position.
At that time, Sanzida told Prothom Alo, “I am grateful to the organisations, including Chhatra Dal and Bangladesh Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad, for honouring me. However, I wish to win through my own struggle.”