Rebel candidates among Boishamyabirodhi panel spark discussions

Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad backed “Boishamyabirodhi Shikkharthi Sangsad” (Anti-discriminatory Students Panel) nominated Hasibul Islam for the post of ‘liberation war and democratic movement affairs secretary’. However, he backed off from the party decision within three days of his nomination and became an independent candidate for the post of assistant general secretary.

Hasibul is the chief organiser of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad Dhaka University (DU) unit. Asked about why he left the panel declared by his party, Hasibul told Prothom Alo, “Everyone, from my friends to well-wishers, was saying I have more chance to win if I contest for the AGS post. So I became a candidate for this post.”

Other than Hasibul, three more leaders of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad have become rebel candidates for the AGS post. They are Tahmid Al Muddassir Chowdhury, Sanjana Afifa Aditi and Ashiqur Rahman Jim. Overall, five leaders of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad are contesting for the AGS post alone.

Ashrefa Khatun is the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad nominated candidate for the AGS post. She is the central spokesperson of the party.

The Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad was established in February this year by a faction of the former coordinators of Student Movement Against Discrimination, a platform that led the July uprising. Their panel is contesting under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Council in the upcoming DUCSU election.

However, four leaders of the party have become ‘rebel’ candidates for the assistant general secretary (AGS) post. Similarly, at least four leaders of the organisation are running as ‘rebel’ candidates for secretarial posts, while three others are contesting independently for member posts.

On campus, there is talk that the presence of multiple candidates from the Democratic Student Council in the same positions may split the vote. The ‘rebel’ candidates are also confident of victory. But the top leadership of the Boishamyabirodhi Shikkharthi Sangsad believes these issues will not have much impact on the election.

In DUCSU, the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad had finalised Abdul Kader for the vice-president post and Abu Baker Mojumdar for the general secretary post long ago. For the assistant general secretary post, central member secretary Zahid Ahsan, central leaders Tahmid Al Muddassir Chowdhury and Hasibul Islam had been in discussion. At one stage, Tahmid’s name was almost finalised for the AGS post, but in the end, the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad nominated Ashrefa Khatun.

Following that, Tahmid came up with the announcement that he would be contesting for the AGS post independently.

Speaking to Prothom Alo last night, he said, “During the panel formation process, it was decided that anyone willing could run as an independent candidate. This has not created any distance among us. The four of us who are running independently each have separate vote banks. This can be seen as our strategic stance.”

Another ‘rebel’ candidate for the AGS post, Sanjana Afifa, said she had waited until the last day of nomination paper sales to see the organisation’s panel. She cited two reasons for contesting independently. First, until the final day of purchasing nomination papers, the organisation had not announced or provided any complete panel, nor had it presented any alternative arrangement for those not included in the panel. Second, the organisation’s decision-making over the panel was influenced by several outsiders.

According to the order of positions in the DUCSU, after VP, GS and AGS comes the post of liberation war and democratic movement secretary. For this post, Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad joint member secretary Abdullah Salehin and the organisation’s university unit joint convener Abu Sayeed are contesting. Both of them are running as ‘rebel’ candidates.

The Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad nominated Sabbir Ahmed for the post of health and environment secretary while the organisation’s joint member secretary Shahriar Mohammad Yamin is running as a ‘rebel’ candidate.

The Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad has not officially announced any panel for the hall unions. However, at least 57 of its leaders are contesting in different hall union elections.

In addition, some leaders have resigned from the organisation and are running as independent candidates in the hall unions. For instance, Muktasen Moktar resigned from his post as joint convener of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad and is contesting as an independent candidate for the VP post in the Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall union. Similarly, Azizul Haque resigned from the organisation and is running as an independent candidate for the VP post in the Masterda Surja Sen Hall union.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Azizul Haque said, “In the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad, decisions are made by very few people, and those decisions do not come through a democratic process. In meetings, the decisions are simply announced. Many of the decisions are influenced from the ministers’ quarters. As a result, the organisational foundation is very weak, which has become more evident centring the DUCSU election.”

Prothom Alo spoke to six leaders of Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad regarding so many ‘rebel’ candidates.

They said that as a new student organisation, they have yet to build an organisational foundation. No one wants to follow anyone’s instructions. Many consider themselves important leaders because of their role in the July mass uprising, leading to a sense of competition. Failing to enforce control, the organisation later opened up candidacy for the DUCSU elections. However, some of those who resigned have secretly joined other organisations.

Former spokesperson of the anti-discrimination student movement, Umama Fatema, was speculated to contest in the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad panel. However, she ultimately formed a separate panel called ‘Swatantra Shikkharthi Oikya’ and is contesting for the VP post. Rupaya Shrestha Tonchongya, having resigned from the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad, is contesting for the career development secretary post from Umama’s panel.

In addition, a separate panel named ‘Samanwita Shikkharthi Sangsad’ has been formed in DUCSU under the leadership of Mahin Sarker. Mahin Sarker is also a former coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement. He was the joint secretary of the National Citizen Party (NCP).

The NCP expelled him for fielding a panel in DUCSU without the party’s approval. Despite this, Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad leaders Sabbir Uddin and Bayezid Hasan are contesting for the member posts from Mahin’s panel.

However, two Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad leaders said that they had spoken with Mahin Sarker, but he was adamant about contesting for a top position. He later announced a separate panel.

Regarding the fact that many Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad leaders are running as independent candidates or on other panels, the panel’s DUCSU GS candidate Abu Baker Majumdar told Prothom Alo, “Having multiple candidates from the same organisation for one position is an electoral strategy. No organisational action will be taken against those contesting as independent candidates.”