The Islami Chhatra Shibir has secured an absolute victory in the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections.
The victory came due to the Shibir’s well organised efforts to reach the common student with their student friendly programmes, said two teachers of Dhaka University (DU) and a former general secretary (GS) of DUCSU.
According to them, Chhatra Dal and Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad were not organised, which prevented them from properly presenting their programmes to students. Compared to Shibir’s candidates, the campaigns of Chhatra Union, other leftist organisations, and independent candidates failed to attract voters.
Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed of the Department of Political Science at Dhaka University told Prothom Alo, “Despite some flaws, this year’s DUCSU and hall union elections were more or less acceptable, although Chhatra Dal, Bangladesh Democratic Students' Council, Chhatra Union, and independent candidates have rejected the results.”
For the first time in the history of hall union and DUCSU elections, Chhatra Shibir has secured a sweeping victory, winning the VP, GS, AGS, and most other posts. Shibir candidates had never achieved such success in previous hall union or DUCSU elections.
Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed said, ‘Chhatra Shibir is a religion-based political organisation. Its members practise cadre-based student politics, and that is their tradition.’
Farid Uddin Ahmed said that since the July uprising, Chhatra Shibir had been preparing in an organised way for the DUCSU elections. The student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami fielded two of the frontline leaders of the July uprising as candidates for vice president and general secretary. They carried out campaigns in every hall, faculty and the surrounding student dormitories of the campus. Chhatra Shibir’s preparation for this DUCSU election had been going on for almost a year. During this time, they reached most students with a positive image.
In contrary, the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal announced its DUCSU election panel quite some time after the election schedule was declared. Their panel did not include many dedicated candidates or those who had faced repression during the Awami League’s tenure.
They did not nominate any candidates this time from the old faction of Dhaka University Chhatra Dal. As a result, that section remained inactive during the election campaign. Chhatra Dal also failed to carry out door-to-door campaigning to present its organisational agenda to general students.
Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed said, “For more than 15 years, Chhatra Shibir has built an organisationally strong position inside Chhatra League, across various halls, faculties, and surrounding student hostels on campus. The organisation has maintained constant communication with its activists while also providing them with diverse career and technical training. The organisational skills, communication, and strategies of Shibir activists were far more efficient and effective compared to Chhatra Dal, the anti-discrimination student organisations, and the leftist student groups.”
He said Chhatra Shibir has worked at Dhaka University with long-term planning, functioning almost like a social movement. Its members pursue diverse studies, and their academic success is enviable, which attracts common students. Most of them behave well, and there are hardly any reports of extortion or violent activities against Shibir members. As a result, Chhatra Shibir has built a ‘positive image’ among students.
Students prefer Chhatra Shibir’s career-oriented activities over conventional student politics. They do not like hall fights, eating without paying, extortion, guestroom culture, or torture cells. Students want to vote for those who genuinely work for them. The results of the DUCSU and hall student council elections bear evidence of this. This time, Chhatra Shibir candidates received substantial votes from female students, which accelerated their unprecedented victory.
Dhaka University’s Department of Political Science professor Farid Uddin Ahmed said, “In the anti-discrimination movement, female students were at the forefront. They were physically assaulted by Chhatra League members during the protests. Shibir worked separately with the female students through the Islami Chhatri Songstha.
Many students, during their school and college years, received orientation on Chhatra Shibir’s activities or Islamic activities. Those students from lower-middle-class families, upon entering Dhaka University, got that vibe through Chhatra Shibir and the female wing, becoming organisation-oriented eventually. They have applied that experience effectively in the election field this time.”
Dhaka University’s professor Farid Uddin Ahmed said, “Chhatra Shibir provides common students with various kinds of support—financial, academic, coaching, and more. Chhatra Dal and leftist student organisations do very little of this. That’s why Chhatra Shibir has won the election by a wide margin this time.”
Dhaka University’s professor of public administration Mosleh Uddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo that he does not think the DUCSU election will have much impact on the next national parliamentary election. He said, “Reports of extortion, occupation, and mob violence by leaders and activists of various student organisations across the country have spread negatively through the media and social media. Common students have not received these reports well. They wanted a significant positive change. I believe the election has reflected that.”
Professor Mosleh Uddin said, “Chhatra Dal’s message did not reach the students properly. This is because the organisation’s members had not been on Dhaka University campus for a long time due to the harassment and oppression by Chhatra League. They were only able to work with a very limited number of students from outside.”
“Students on campus have long witnessed the violent activities of the ruling party’s student organisation. The pro-government organsiation implemented anti-national agendas in the country, which was repeatedly evident in their organisational activities. Among Dhaka University students, patriotic sentiment is at its peak at the moment. Chhatra Shibir has capitalised on this. Their campaigns focusing on religious sentiment and patriotism were highly well-received by the common students. Chhatra Shibir’s cyber and social media team was extremely active before the election, with each member campaigning online round the clock.”
Overall, the Chhatra Shibir candidates have taken Islamic culture and ideals to a new height among students at Dhaka University after the July uprising, a result that is reflected in the DUCSU election, says Mosleh Uddin Ahmed.
On voting day, some students complained that the behaviour of certain returning officers was biased, which made the election somewhat ‘controversial’. The teachers on duty did not properly familiarise themselves with the code of conduct. In front of the media, some teachers unnecessarily accused candidates, sparking controversy. In these matters, the Dhaka University administration and the teachers needed to be more impartial and cautious.
Meanwhile, Mushtaq Hossain, a former GS of the DUCSU, who won in the 1989–90 DUCSU elections, told Prothom Alo, “In this DUCSU election, there was no strong ideological student organisation to counter Chhatra Shibir’s politics. The organisations that tried to present themselves as Chhatra Shibir’s opponents were, despite being organisationally widespread, united with Shibir in the recent past under the same political objectives. That is why DUCSU voters considered Shibir the ‘better’ choice compared to them.”
Mushtaq Hossain said, “Since independence, the student community has turned away from the political forces that have governed the country. The students have become so disillusioned that they even wanted to give a leadership opportunity to a religion-based, anti-liberation organisation like Chhatra Shibir. Moreover, in the past, the oppressive and abusive actions of the Awami-aligned Chhatra League on campus, carried out in the name of the Liberation War, not only made common students view the organisation with disdain but also rendered the ideals of the Liberation War ineffective.”
He further said, “Common students did not trust Chhatra Dal’s pledge against encroachment, terror, and extortion. Across the country, Chhatra Dal leaders and activists are engaged in such activities. Moreover, the party formed by the anti-discrimination student movement, which rejected conventional politics and promised a new political approach, has also strengthened itself using the old political tactics. They too have carried out terror, extortion, and mob violence in various parts of the country. As a result, both the public and the student community have become disillusioned with them. Although common students held a favourable view of independent candidates, these candidates lacked the organisational framework to mobilise such a vast number of students. Even under an independent identity, that was not feasible. Yet, some independent candidates received surprisingly high votes, something never seen before.”
The former GS of DUCSU said that the vote-counting process in the DUCSU election has created frustration among common students as well as the general public. He said, “The vote count should be made more scientific and straightforward. When the results of nearly 39,000 votes are announced the next day at noon, it is natural for doubts to arise in people’s minds. Moreover, the over-the-top actions of the teachers on duty in front of the media have made the election somewhat controversial.