Bangladesh has not witnessed a festive and participatory national election for many years. There was an unofficial embargo on elections at higher educational institutions.
The Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) election held six years ago was mired in vote rigging and controversy. The mass uprising in 2024 gave the institutions a relief from that suffocating situation.
The option to choose students’ representatives has returned to campuses. Electoral preparations are already underway for the DUCSU, RUCSU and JUCSU elections. The university campuses are now vibrant after years.
This electoral festivity is a great contribution of the organisations and students, who led and played a constructive role in the July uprising. Ensuring a fair election and festive electoral publicity campaigns also fall under their duties.
The elections of DUCSU, RUCSU and JUCSU have long been stalled on the logic that it would disrupt the environment for study and spread violence on the campus. Now it is time for the students to prove these allegations false and baseless.
However, in practising democracy on the campus and making departmental studies and hall life more enjoyable, care must be taken that the interpersonal relationships among peers are not harmed.
The focus of the entire nation is on the DUCSU, JUCSU and RUCSU elections. It is the liability of each competing panel and independent candidates to prove before the nation that the mass uprising has made them more responsible.
In the past, meritorious students with cultural affiliations would enjoy an extra advantage in student body elections, including the DUCSU elections. Besides, political ideology would also have an impact on the electoral campaigns and the choices of the voters. This culture might resurface this time again. Panel formation and nominations are already showing significant polarisation along political-ideological lines in DUCSU, RUCSU, and JUCSU.
University students constitute a large part of the country’s talented social segment. Spending long periods on the campus, they come to understand which peers are capable of working with the authorities as representatives and whose leadership qualities have been tested. They also know who possesses a democratic spirit, is student-friendly, and morally upright. These considerations guide election campaigning, and this year will be no exception.
Bangladesh is ethnically and religiously diverse, and this diversity is strongly reflected on every campus. All higher educational institutions also have a substantial female student population. In such a context, a culture of pluralism and equality is essential. Parents across the country naturally expect universities to maintain an inclusive and liberal environment. Only then can they feel secure leaving their children on campus. Therefore, it is the nation’s expectation that young men and women who embody inclusivity take the lead in the electoral festivities at Dhaka University and all other campuses.
The pride of the university students in this country is that they are the children as well as the guardians of the society at the same time. The society has sent them for higher education, but the students accomplished some significant political duties apart from education.
From the Language Movement to the Liberation War, from the mass uprising in the nineties to the July uprising, students have given voice to the political aspirations of the country.
Whatever major achievements this country has made in state politics, the university community and DUCSU, RUCSU, CUCSU and JUCSU have been major contributors. That is why the people of the country closely observe the characteristics of the candidates and panels in these elections. Through these elections, they look for the future national leaders. This is a uniquely Bangladeshi tradition.
If democratisation takes root in national political parties and they succeed in advancing democracy at the national level, campuses will not need to shoulder political responsibilities in the future. That is everyone’s aspiration. Until that better time arrives, people will still look for leadership in the prospective representative lists of DUCSU, RUCSU and JUCSU that remain sensitive to national needs. Our best wishes go in advance to those student leaders who are sincere and active in the question of equality, solidarity and human dignity.
# Altaf Parvez is a researcher on history affairs and former member of DUCSU (1989).