From the very outset of the election campaign, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has been persistently confronting one particular question: if elected to DUCSU, will the notorious culture of “guest rooms” and “gono rooms” return on the campus?
The organisation addressed this matter unequivocally in the very first point of its election manifesto.
The JCD panel pledges to eradicate forever the practices of guest room and gono room culture, forced participation in political programmes, and repression—vowing to free the campus from terror, extortion, and domination.
On their campaign in the residential halls, JCD candidates have been assuring students that under no circumstances will guest room and gono room culture be allowed to return to the university.
The gono room arrangement emerged out of the acute accommodation crisis at Dhaka University, forcing many students to cram into a single room.
The so-called guest room culture, however, was far more insidious: freshers were subjected to verbal abuse, mental torment, and even physical torture in the halls.
Leaders of whichever student organisation was aligned with the ruling party were typically involved in such abuses.
During the Awami League’s 15 and a half years in office (its activities are now banned), countless general students suffered at the hands of leaders of its student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League (now banned).
It was virtually impossible to reside in a hall without submitting to the gono room–guest room system during the tenure of the previous government.
Only after the July Uprising did this practice come to an end at Dhaka University. Students are no longer compelled to participate in any organisation’s programmes, and many freshers have secured seats in accordance with official rules. Students now demand that this culture of human rights violations must never return.
Prothom Alo correspondent spoke with students from different academic years on campus about the JCD panel last Sunday and Monday. Many of them believe that if the BNP forms the next government in the forthcoming national elections, and if its student wing JCD secures victory in the DUCSU election, the gono room and guest room culture may resurface as in the past.
Others, however, think certain rival student organisations are exploiting this issue to corner JCD, attempting in various ways to instil fear among students that voting for JCD means the return of guest rooms and gono rooms.
Noting the spread of propaganda against his organisation, Vice-President (VP) candidate Md Abidul Islam Khan told Prothom Alo, “Certain organisations are deliberately trying to mislead general students. Chhatra Dal will uproot the gono room and guest room culture once and for all.”
Electoral calculations: Party and regional considerations
Many students said that until the panel was formally announced, JCD had been trailing in pre-election discussions. Since the announcement, however, the heightened activity of JCD candidates has begun to alter perceptions.
In the 1990 DUCSU elections, the JCD panel emerged victorious. In this campaign, its candidates are invoking the “winds of the ’90s” to rally support. They are canvassing both online and in person by visiting the halls.
According to two leaders in charge of the panel’s publicity committee, JCD is compiling a list using various channels of Dhaka University students from BNP-supporting families. They estimate the number at around 7,000. Once the list is complete, they plan to approach these students directly.
Party sources say that VP candidate Abidul is from Cumilla, where a significant number of students at DU are also from. The figure is about 2,000, and JCD leaders are optimistic that a substantial portion of their votes will go to him. Along with the organisation’s core support base, they believe Abidul is well positioned for the VP post.
For the GS (General Secretary) position, JCD’s candidate Sheikh Tanvir Bari Hamim is from Khulna, and his family is connected to BNP politics.
JCD estimates that roughly 10,000 students at DU come from Khulna Division, many of whom could vote for him.
Two key voting blocs are expected to be decisive in this DUCSU election: female students and Jagannath Hall residents. The JCD panel includes two female candidates, one from an ethnic minority group, and two from religious minorities.
There are 18,959 registered female voters, comprising about 48 per cent of the electorate. The total number of voters stands at 39,874.
In their manifesto, JCD candidates have pledged to build a safer campus if elected, ensuring women’s freedom of dress, preventing sexual harassment, and guaranteeing the highest social dignity.
They also promise to work to extend entry hours for female students in the halls by abolishing the “curfew law”.
Jagannath Hall is home to students from minority communities. It has 2,222 voters, about 6 per cent of the total electorate. The current president of JCD’s DU unit, Ganesh Chandra Roy (Sahas), is himself a student of Jagannath Hall. The organisation maintains active committees there. JCD is confident that its panel will receive a significant portion of the votes from this hall.
Hall council scenario
Aside from DUCSU, only JCD has announced panels for all 18 hall councils, 14 with full panels and four partial ones in women’s halls.
Elections for DUCSU and the hall councils will be held on 9 September.
In JCD’s own assessment, its VP, GS, and AGS candidates are ahead in Jagannath Hall, Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hall, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall, Bijoy Ekattor Hall, and Sir AF Rahman Hall. However, they remain uncertain about their prospects in the five women’s halls.
Interviews with students from various halls revealed, however, that some JCD candidates for VP, GS, and AGS posts are not particularly well known to voters. In certain halls, there are also signs of disunity within the panel.
Speaking about this, GS candidate Sheikh Tanvir Bari told Prothom Alo, “A variety of propaganda is being waged against us. Nevertheless, we believe this DUCSU will echo the spirit of the ’90s. Chhatra Dal will win the mandate of the majority of students.”