DUCSU elections were held only seven times in 54 years

Dhaka University was founded in 1921. Four years later, the first elections to central student union were held in 2024-25 sessions. Since then, the student union polls took place only 37 times in a century, though it was supposed to be held every year. After Bangladesh got independence, the DU student union elections were held only seven times.

In line with the constitution, Dhaka University Central Student Union (DUCSU) and hall unions mainly worked in protecting the rights of the students, holding debate, cultural, and sports programmes and publishing different types of publications till 1950s.

The trend continued in 1960s. However, in the early 1960s, the education movement, the movement against Ayub Khan’s military rule, and the 1969 mass uprising brought the political role of DUCSU and various student organisations into prominence.

After the Liberation War of 1971, political party’s influence in student politics grew stronger. Following the restoration of democracy in 1991, DUCSU elections were discontinued.

Nearly three decades later, in 2019, elections for DUCSU and hall unions were held once. But after that controversial election, DUCSU and the hall unions failed to play the role expected of them.

After the fall of the Awami League government in the July uprising, DUCSU elections are now being held again. Ahead of the 9 September election, several big questions have surfaced. Will Dhaka University once again fall under the grip of party-dominated student politics? Will the organisations be controlled by the ruling party’s student wing? Will students again be forced into gono room (crammed rooms controlled by ruling party student wing in residential halls), compelled to join processions, and subjected to torture and repression as before?

Students and teachers say that the culture of hall domination and torture is a major issue in this DUCSU and hall union elections. Those who have opposed it are likely to do well in the polls.

For this reason, even student organisations tied to political parties have nominated relatively well-known leaders who have been vocal about student rights. Beyond the student wings directly linked to political parties, strong panels and candidates are also visible this time.

Students want to ensure that the culture of hall domination, Gono rooms, guest rooms (torture under the guise of teaching etiquette), and forced participation in processions do not return. Instead, they want DUCSU and the hall unions to consistently speak up for student rights. They want peace, discipline, and a proper learning environment on campus, along with programmes such as speeches, debates, recitations, essay competitions, indoor sports, and cultural events.

Ahmed Sojib, a student of the Department of Anthropology at Dhaka University, told Prothom Alo, “We want representatives who will ensure that every student gets a hall seat from the first year, that gono rooms and guest rooms never return, that canteens and cafeterias provide good food at affordable prices, and that the learning environment remains intact.”
He added that with regular student union elections, candidates will have to safeguard their organisation’s or their own personal image, which will lead to changes in their behavior toward students.

DUCSU and hall union leaders are elected student representatives of Dhaka University. When the university was founded in 1921, there was no DUCSU. In 2019, the late writer and researcher Syed Abul Maksud wrote an article in Prothom Alo titled “How the student union was formed at Dhaka University.” In it, he explained that after the university opened on 1 July, 1921, the Muslim Hall Union was established on 23 September. Soon after, Dhaka Hall Union and Jagannath Hall Union were formed, and in the 1924–25 academic year, the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union was established. In 1953–54, its constitution was revised and renamed as Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU).

In the beginning, the election process was different. Elections were first held for the hall unions, and DUCSU representatives were chosen from there. The DUCSU VP (Vice President) and GS (General Secretary) were elected by the votes of these representatives. Each year, the VP and GS posts would rotate among different halls.

In 1970, direct voting began, meaning that the VP, GS, and central student union leaders were elected directly by the students.

In his book History of the Student Movement in Bangladesh (1830–1971), Mohammad Hannan describes DUCSU elections of that era. At the time, DU elections had unique practices. In hall union campaigns, organisation leaders would give speeches from different platforms in events known as “platform campaigns.” Typically, central union candidates spoke in Bangla, while most hall candidates spoke in English, displaying their knowledge of national and international politics, literature, and culture.

During the 1960s, the two strongest student groups were the Chhatra Union and the Chhatra League. Abdul Hannan wrote that Ayub Khan formed a professional student force to suppress the anti-military student movement, naming it the National Students’ Federation (NSF). This group introduced campus terrorism at Dhaka University.

In the 1963 DUCSU and hall union elections, the Chhatra League and Chhatra Union formed a joint panel in some halls against the NSF. However, in the central DUCSU election, Chhatra Union nominees Rashed Khan Menon and Matia Chowdhury won. Hannan’s book notes that the Chhatra Union’s leadership role in the 1962 student movement contributed to their strong performance in 1963, when they won 80 out of 125 seats.

In the 1970 elections, writer and researcher Mahiuddin Ahmed was elected AGS (Assistant General Secretary) of Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hall. He told Prothom Alo that under the hall quota system, the last DUCSU VP elected was Tofail Ahmed (later an Awami League leader).

But after 1970, DUCSU elections have been held through direct vote of students. From the beginning, DUCSU and hall unions served as a bridge between students and the administration, organising cultural programs, sports, and literary activities. Later, however, this became politicised.

By rule, DUCSU elections were supposed to be held annually. But that was not the case. After hall unions were introduced at Dhaka University, 14 elections were held during 23 years of British rule. During 22 years of Pakistan rule up to 1970, elections were held 16 times. After Bangladesh’s independence, elections became irregular and eventually stopped, with only seven being held.

In 1971, due to the Liberation War, no DUCSU or hall union elections took place. In the 1972–73 academic year, Mujahidul Islam Selim was elected DUCSU VP and Mahbub Zaman GS, both from the Chhatra Union.
In 1973, DUCSU and hall elections were held, but results were not announced. That year, the Chhatra Union allied with the Bangladesh Chhatra League under the banner of Chhatra Sangram Parishad. Their main rival was the Jasad Chhatra League, led by ASM Abdur Rob. Voting on 3 September, 1973, was peaceful, but as counting began in the evening, chaos erupted.

On 4 September, the daily Ittefaq reported gunfire and ballot box snatching in the DUCSU election. Both the Sangram Parishad and the Rob-led Jasad Chhatra League blamed each other. Vote counting was halted, the university was closed, and the Chhatra League–Chhatra Union alliance was accused of sabotaging the results.

From 1979–80 to 1990–91, DUCSU and hall elections were held five times. In that period, Mahmudur Rahman Manna (Jasad Chhatra League) was elected VP twice, Akhtaruzzaman (BASAD Chhatra League) once, Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed (Chhatra League) once, and Amanullah Aman (Chhatra Dal) once. For GS, Akhtaruzzaman won twice, while Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu (BASAD Chhatra League), Mushtaq Hossain (Jasad Chhatra League), and Khairul Kabir Khokon (Chhatra Dal) each won once.

After 1991, DUCSU and hall elections were suspended for 28 years. The most recent was the controversial 2019 election, where Nurul Haque (then of the General Students’ Rights Protection Council, now president of Gono Odhikar Parishad) became VP, and Golam Rabbani (Chhatra League, now banned) became GS.

Writer and researcher Mohiuddin Ahmad told Prothom Alo that by the late 1960s, party influence over the student unions had grown, with student leaders entering DUCSU through political party backing. He added that after Bangladesh’s independence, a trend emerged of students prolonging their enrollment just to retain eligibility to contest DUCSU leadership.

Since 1991, the Dhaka University campus had been under the control of the ruling party’s student wing. Until last year, BNP and Awami League alternated in power. Neither party allowed student union elections while in power, fearing that their student organisations (Chhatra Dal and Chhatra League) might lose and that the campus would slip out of their control. Historically, university campuses have played a crucial role in anti-government movements. The parties, therefore, avoided holding student union elections to prevent losing their grip on the campus.

During this time, Chhatra Dal and Chhatra League (now banned) alternately controlled the residential halls. Students were forced into gono rooms, compelled to join political processions, subjected to abuse in guest rooms under the guise of learning manners, and often evicted from halls. Student leaders were accused of terrorism, extortion, and tender manipulation.

Since independence, at least 75 killings have occurred on the Dhaka University campus. Over the past 15 and a half years, the campus was dominated by Chhatra League, during which repression surpassed previous levels. After attacks on the anti-discrimination student movement in July 2024, students forced Chhatra League out of the halls. The administration has since regained control of the halls. However, allegations remain that some groups, under the names of general students, are still exerting influence on hall activities through their activists.

Students and teachers believe that once DUCSU and hall union elections are held, students will finally have elected representatives, which would be an effective system. They argue that DUCSU elections should take place every year.

Abidul Islam Khan, the Chhatra Dal’s VP candidate in this year’s DUCSU election, told Prothom Alo: “If we are elected, we will uproot the culture of gono rooms and guest rooms from Dhaka University. From free meals at the canteens to the political malpractices, all these negative cultures will be eliminated.”

Independent Student Unity panel VP candidate Umama Fatema and GS candidate Abu Baker Mojumdar from the Anti-Discrimination Student Alliance supported by the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad want to restore the ‘lost glory’ of DUCSU.

Umama Fatema told Prothom Alo that DUCSU and hall unions led cultural and literary activities at Dhaka University in the 1950s and 1960s. DUCSU’s role in the students’ rights movement and the struggle for self-determination was historic.

“If we are elected, we will try to uphold that glorious past. But alongside national interests, we will prioritise solving students’ problems,” she added.

On the other hand, Abu Baker Mojumdar told Prothom Alo: “DUCSU has always been remembered for its role in protecting students’ rights, becoming a strong voice for the people of the country, and turning students into responsible citizens. We want to restore DUCSU to its past glory.”

To understand why DUCSU elections are so important, Prothom Alo spoke with senior faculty, current teachers, and students. They said DUCSU elections carry national significance because Dhaka University students have always been at the forefront of movements—from the language movement to the most recent July uprising. This time, too, which organisation wins DUCSU is being seen as politically significant at the national level.

Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury was a student at Dhaka University in the 1950s and became a teacher there in 1957. At 89, the emeritus professor has been connected with the university for seven decades. He told Prothom Alo that the DUCSU and hall unions organised the university’s cultural programmes in 1950s. These included cultural festivals, inter-hall drama competitions, debates, sports competitions—these were very popular. The same practices continued in the 1960s.

Professor Choudhury further said that after Bangladesh’s independence, DUCSU made extraordinary contributions to theater.  Debates between students and teachers, or between journalists and artists, were very enjoyable and highly participatory. Many cultural organisations emerged from DUCSU. The TSC was always vibrant.

Altogether, the campus was very lively. DUCSU did not just create political leaders but leaders in many fields, he added.

He said that the DUCSU provided a training ground—not only in politics but also in culture, literature, and sports.