DUCSU election: Women at forefront of uprising, underrepresented in candidacy

Women were at forefront of July mass-uprising, braving attacks and gunshots police. However, within one year of the uprising women now lag behind in terms of candidacy in Dhaka University Central Student Union (DUCSU) election.

Only 62 women out of a total of 471 candidates are contesting in 28 posts. Women constitute for only 13 per cent of the candidates.

Prothom Alo talked with many female students, candidates, and teachers to inquire while the very students who were at forefront during the mass uprising now take a back seat in contesting DUCSU polls.

All of them said that the women are being subject to cyber bullying. Any difference of opinion leads to indiscriminate bullying online. Some female students become  ‘traumatised’ as a result. Due to such a situation, many female students opted not to take the risk of contesting in the election while many others avoided the election to avoid risk of enmity.

Tania Haque, Professor of Dhaka University’s Women and Gender Studies department told Prothom Alo that in is evident in Bangladesh’s political history that whenever there is an issue-based movement, women are always present. But they can no longer retain the position afterwards.

In other words, women’s participation is often temporary, issue-based, and time-bound. The family, society, and the state have yet to create structures that make women’s roles sustainable.

At Dhaka University, female students are not lagging behind male students in admissions. In fact, in the 2022–23 academic year, 52 per cent of the students admitted to the undergraduate (first year of bachelor’s) programmes were women. In the five years perior that academic sessions, from 2017–18 to 2021–22, about 44 per cent of admitted students were women.

In this year’s DUCSU election, there are about 40,000 voters, of whom 18,959 are female students.

For the Vice President (VP) post in DUCSU, there are 45 candidates in total, including five women. For the General Secretary (GS) post, there are 19 candidates, only one of whom is a woman.

In DUCSU’s 100-year history, only three women have been elected to the VP and GS posts. In the 1960–61 session, the first woman candidate to win the VP post was Begum Jahanara Akhter, who was associated with the Chhatra Union’s politics. Her political identity is documented in Mohammad Hannan’s book ‘The History of the Student Movement in Bangladesh (1830–1971).’

In the 1963–64 session, Matia Chowdhury of the Chhatra Union was elected GS, and in the 1967–68 session, Mahfuza Khanam became DUCSU VP, also as a Chhatra Union candidate.

In this year’s DUCSU election, the joint leftist student panel “Resistance Council,” comprising seven organisations, has nominated the highest number of female candidates—11 in total. Their panel includes one female VP candidate, Sk Tasnim Afroz.

Among the female student activists active during the July uprising, former spokesperson of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Umama Fatema, has formed her own panel, “Independent Student Unity,” and is running for VP from there.

VP candidates also include Tahmina Akhter from the Bishwo Insaniyat Biplob Student Front, Jannati Bulbul from the United Student Unity panel, and independent candidate Marzia Hossain.

For the GS post, the only female candidate is Sabina Yasmin, running from the “DUCSU for Change” panel supported by the Chhatra Odhikar Parishad.

Dhaka University has five residential halls for female students. Each of these hall unions has 13 posts, totaling 65 posts. A total of 185 candidates are running for these posts. In two of the hall unions, two female students are set to be elected unopposed to two secretary posts.

During the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, on 15 July, 2024, Sanjida Ahmed (Tonni) was injured in an attack by the Chhatra League on the Dhaka University campus. Her bloodied face became a symbolic image of that July. This year, Sanjida is running as an independent candidate for the post of Research and Publication Secretary in DUCSU.

“The relatively low number of female candidates in this year’s DUCSU election is mainly due to our social psychology. Once women’s position in society is consolidated, that will also be reflected in leadership platforms like DUCSU,” Sanjida told Prothom Alo.

Female candidates are facing various forms of cyberbullying. For example, when the Resistance Council posted a photo card on Facebook with pictures of their female candidates and the caption “Vote for our heroes,” many people made abusive and obscene comments.

On 2 September, Fatima Tasnim (Juma), the Liberation War and Democratic Movement Secretary candidate of the Jamaat-backed United Students’ Alliance in the DUCSU election, wrote a Facebook post about bullying.
“I haven’t escaped attacks from Shibir’s bot IDs (fake Facebook accounts) either. More or less, everyone’s root level is the same—except the left.”
She also added that a female leader of the Chhatra Dal (BNP’s student wing) made offensive remarks about female candidates, but no protest was raised against it.

In her Facebook post, Fatima Tasnim also said she had complained about bullying to two leaders—one from Chhatra Dal and one from Shibir. She shared Messenger conversations with them in two screenshots. In those, the Chhatra Dal leader asked her to file a complaint, while the Shibir leader described it as a serious offense.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on the matter, Fatima Tasnim said that bot IDs are a common problem. Everyone is a victim of it. It’s never desirable to blame only one side. When someone affiliated with an organisation commits a crime, the question is—what measures do the responsible people of that organisation take?

"My purpose was mainly to show the contrast between two leaders of two groups, who was more sensible and attentive to the victim,” she added.

Regarding Fatima Tasnim’s allegations in her Facebook post, Nahiduzzaman, General Secretary of the Dhaka University unit of Chhatra Dal, told Prothom Alo that the Chhatra Dal’s women leaders have been the worst victims of cyberbullying since the July uprising.

Now, Fatima’s post proves that the bot army behind these cyberattacks belongs to Shibir. If you print out all the obscene remarks they’ve made over the past year, the entire Madhur Canteen would be filled.

In the DUCSU election, a female candidate who filed a writ petition challenging the candidacy of Shibir’s GS candidate SM Farhad was threatened with gang rape on Facebook. Following this incident, a student of Dhaka University’s Sociology Department (2020–21 session), Ali Husen, was expelled for six months. Shibir claimed the student had no connection with them.

Mohammad Jasim Uddin, the Chief Returning Officer of the DUCSU election, said that the Proctor’s Office, the Election Commission, and the administration are continuously working to prevent cyberbullying.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that a committee has been formed to control cyberbullying. Letters have been sent to BTRC, and meetings have been held with them. BTRC has been provided with the names of the pages carrying out cyberbullying. Complaints have also been submitted to DMP’s cyber cell and DGFI.

Female candidates say their campaigning opportunities are limited, which puts them at a disadvantage compared to male candidates. For example, according to the code of conduct, election campaigning cannot continue in women’s halls after 10:00pm.

Entry into female halls also closes at 10:00pm. But male halls are accessible at all times. The code of conduct allows campaign activities in male halls until 11:00pm.

Umama Fatema, VP candidate from the “Independent Student Unity” panel, said that women candidates have far fewer opportunities for campaigning, which is a major obstacle.

Sanjana Afifa (Aditi), running as an independent candidate for the Assistant General Secretary (AGS) post, also felt that female candidates are at a disadvantage since they get less time to campaign compared to men.

Formal campaigning for the DUCSU and hall union elections began on 26 August. In the male halls, however, campaigning has continued informally even after 11:00pm. Voting will be held on 9 September.

Professor Samina Luthfa of Dhaka University’s Sociology Department, who played an active role in the July uprising, observed that women who want to enter politics or have political aspirations have been deliberately targeted with continuous cyberbullying since the uprising. Given this situation, she does not see the 13 per cent female candidacy rate in DUCSU as too low.

Professor Samina Luthfa told Prothom Alo, “Women have been at the forefront of movements or uprisings, but after those movements, most returned home and did not raise their voices for their political rights—this has been our reality since 1952. But this time, women are trying to claim their rightful share of political rights. That is why the attacks against them have been multifaceted.”