Dhaka University student union limbo deepens as elections remain stalled

TAHMID SHAKIB
More than three and a half years have passed since the last Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) expired in 2020.
With the university administration yet to make any concrete moves towards fresh polls, students are bracing for yet another round of stagnation as the last DUCSU election was held in 2019 after a 28-year hiatus.
Despite controversies surrounding the fairness of the 2019 election, DUCSU leaders initially offered hope. Incidents of campus violence and misuse of university facilities like political guestroom culture and forceful political programme joining decreased.
Students felt a greater sense of freedom of expression and a more democratic environment.
However, even as DUCSU representatives in the university Senate claimed to act in students' best interests, their impact had been minimal, according to student demands.
This lack of visible progress adds to the frustration surrounding the absence of new elections.
DUCSU stands alone as the only Dhaka University organisation without regular elections. The university regularly conducts elections for other bodies like the DU teachers' union, further charging student questions: How long must we wait for DUCSU elections? Will they ever truly return?
Dhaka University International Relations Professor Tanjim Uddin Khan sarcastically answered the queries, though with another question: why would the university administration risk the potential loss of dominance enjoyed by the ruling party's student organisation?
Professor Tanjim Uddin Khan believes regularising DUCSU elections would foster coexistence among different student groups and create a pipeline for new leadership each year.
Every DU student pays an annual fee of Tk 60 for both DUCSU and their hall union, essentially funding nonexistent organisations.
The demand for DUCSU elections is widespread, echoing from both general students and student leaders.
Last year, Nusrat Tanisha, a student from the Disaster Management Department, formed a human chain at the base of the Raju sculpture to demand elections. "Without DUCSU, we are unable to stand up for our rights," she said.
Left-leaning student groups accuse the university administration of deliberately delaying the polls, while the general secretary of the ruling party's student wing, DU Chhatra League (BCL), blames it on administrative inaction.
The university administration partly blamed the Covid-19 pandemic, and now cites the need for a "proper atmosphere" for elections.
In the 2019 DUCSU polls, the ruling Awami League's student affiliate Bangladesh Chhatra League secured 23 out of 25 posts. The opposition group 'Shatro Odhikar Parishad' managed to win the vice president and social services secretary positions.
According to DUCSU's constitution, elected officials hold office for a year, with a possible 90-day extension if elections are delayed. This extension expired on June 22, 2020.
Muzahidul Islam Selim, DUCSU's first post-independence vice president and former president of the Bangladesh Communist Party, alleged manipulation.
"The government wants to control the university with its own people," he said. "They're stalling the elections to prevent the emergence of new leadership."
He also criticised the broader national context, saying, "The country is under misrule, with no democratic environment or elections. DUCSU, a crucial symbol of student rights, becomes another casualty."
Dhaka University Bangla teacher Professor Mohammad Azam echoed the same. He said the current governance practices within the university and across the state contribute to the electoral impasse.
Professor Lutfar Rahman, convenor of Dhaka University's pro-BNP teachers' group 'Sada Dal', raised concerns about specific student groups like BNP's student wing Chhatra Dal being denied access to campus.
He urged the administration to create a fair environment for all student organisations to participate in elections.

Many students and teachers suspect the university administration is deliberately delaying the polls to maintain control.
They point to Dhaka University's historical role in sparking movements like the Language Movement and the anti-Ershad movement, and fear a democratic campus environment fostered by DUCSU elections could lead to renewed activism.
However, those claims of government interference were refuted by both the ruling Awami League (AL) and student groups.
AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader dismissed such questions as baseless, linking the delay to administrative shortcomings.
"Awami League has no interference here," he commented.
Similarly, pro-Awami League Nil Dal President Shitesh Chandra Bashar said the delay originates within the university.
"Maybe the university administration could not hold the election because of the last 12th National Election," he commented, arguing that sufficient time has now passed for elections to proceed.
Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr ASM Maqsud Kamal has pledged to hold elections once "a favourable environment" is established. However, no concrete timeline has been provided, leaving students to speculate.
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