DUCSU polls may make the students’ dream come true
The elections to Dhaka University Central Students Union (DUCSU) and 18 hall unions are being held after a long hiatus of 28 years. This is indeed good news. But, there are reasons to worry too.
The DUCSU election is being held at a time when our politics is revolving around national-level polls.
Debates continue over the 30 December national election held under the KM Nurul Huda election commission. The experience people had in that election is a disincentive for any election.
Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and others are not taking part in the ongoing upazila parishad elections. So, the election commission is worrying about a low turnout.
Earlier only 31 per cent votes were cast in the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayoral by-polls and this is the lowest turnout in the history of Dhaka city corporation elections.
DUCSU elections, however, so far look opposite to the national election.
As many as 21 candidates are contesting for DUCSU's vice president (VP) post while 14 for general secretary (GS) and this proves how enthusiastic Dhaka University students are over the elections. Except Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), no student organisations could field complete panels to the hall unions as the ruling party's student wing has been dominating the halls for long.
All student organisations contesting the polls pledged coexistence, creating an education-friendly environment and resolving students' problems on the campus.
The stand DU authorities have taken regarding the election seems to go against the expectations of general students. Except the BCL, all student organisations demanded polling centres outside the dormitories. But, the authorities did not pay any heed to their demands. The bars DU authorities slapped on media to enter the polling stations are unacceptable and contrary to a transparent election.
Several student organisations staged a demonstration in front of the vice chancellor’s office even on Sunday (the day before the election), voicing their demands, including extended voting hours.
The voting hours have been fixed from 8:00am to 2:00pm. The agitating student leaders think it is impossible for the 43,000 students to cast their vote in just six hours. The authorities could have reconsidered this and their firm stand over the voting hours has raised many questions.
Despite all these things, we want to hope the authorities will take all necessary measures to erase any obstacles to holding the DUCSU and hall union polls in a fair manner.
Holding a peaceful and fair election is the main challenge of the DU authorities. If they can do so with integrity and courage, they will be hailed not only by the 43,000 students but also by the people of the country. This will imbibe a democratic mode in the educational institutions.
We hope the path to hold student union elections to other universities will be smooth in the near future. DUCSU election is now being considered a place of hope and aspiration, as the national elections are already questionable.
If the DUCSU elections are not free and fair, the expectations of the 43,000 students will be dashed, as well as that of the general people. And the university authorities will have to shoulder the blame.