DUCSU elections 'tainted'

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Udisa Islam
Published : 21:51, Mar 11, 2019 | Updated : 16:53, Mar 12, 2019

Filled ballots are seen with students at the Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall of Dhaka University before voting opened for to student union and DUCSU on Monday, March 11, 2019. BANGLA TRIBUNEThe polls to the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), held after a long gap of 28 years, have been ‘tainted’ with allegations of widespread irregularities and rigging, say former student leaders.

According to them, the DUCSU polls held in the late 1960s, during the military regime of Ayub Khan, were far more fair and free.

The Dhaka University authorities should immediately scrap the polls held on Monday (Mar 11) and announce a fresh vote after reconstituting the polls conducting committee, they say.

Vice-Chancellor Md Akhtaruzzaman, however, claimed the polls have been “free and fair”.

“The elections were held amid festivity despite some isolated incidents”, the ex-officio president of DUCSU said though most panels of candidate announced boycott of the polls and called for protest on Tuesday demanding a fresh election.

Speaking on Monday’s voting, former student leader Khan Asaduzzaman Masum told Bangla Tribune, “DUCSU could have been kept out of the disgraceful trend which was seen during the national polls.”

“We can only condemn it,” said the former leftist student union leader before calling for fresh polls ‘taking the blanket boycott into consideration’.

Former Student leader Mujahidul Islam Selim said, “We feared this would happen and we witnessed an even more naked display of it. Such scandalous incidents never took place even during the Ayub Khan regime.”

“The reputation of the Dhaka University and DUCSU have been tarnished,” said Selim before adding, “It is unacceptable.”

Hoping the authorities will come to their senses and hold a fresh election, the former student leader said, “History doesn’t end here. The students’ rights to constitute their union will be established at their resistance.”

Illinois State University Professor Ali Riaz said, “What transpired today in the name of DUCSU polls, is by no logic can be called an election.”

‘Tainted’ would be an understatement, he said before adding, “It was part of the elaborate scheme of destroying the country’s election system.” 

Alleging the vice-chancellor and teachers, ‘who are blind supporters of the ruling party’ of doing it on purpose, the two-time DUCSU literature secretary said, “If they have minimum self-respect and responsibility, they must immediately scrap the election.”

Former DUCSU VP Mahmudur Rahman Manna told Bangla Tribune, “Like I predicted earlier the DUCSU polls will be a replica election of the December 30 election.”

The Nagorik Oikya chief also said that no DUCSU election in the past saw irregularities to this extent.

“However, ballot-box was hijacked in 73,” he added.

According to Khairul Kabir Khokon, who was the General Secretary in the last DUCSU panel, the government will have to ‘pay a big price’ for how the polls transpired.

“All panels except the Chhatra League demanded— voting time to be extended, setup polling booths outside the hall and using transparent ballot box; but the university administration did nothing,” he said.

“We still wanted to keep faith on the varsity administration as they are not under the government’s authority under the 1973 ordinance. Yet, the administration tainted the university’s image in collusion with the chhatra league,” added Khokon.

 

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