The student wing of the Pakistan-origin Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the Islami Chhatra Shibir, won the Dhaka University Central Student Union (DUCSU) elections through vote rigging. Chhatra Dal-backed VP candidate Abidul Islam Khan has rejected the vote. Independent Student Unity Panel VP candidate Umama Fatema has also announced a boycott of DUCSU. In addition, Meghmallar Basu, a candidate for the post of General Secretary (GS) of the Left-wing Resistance Council, has also alleged that various irregularities and fraud are visible in the vote. The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has also alleged vote rigging.
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has congratulated the winners in the DUCSU polls. In a post on X on Wednesday afternoon, the Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami said: โCongratulations to Islami Chhatra Shibir (Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba) on their historic landslide victory in the Dhaka University Studentsโ Union elections for the first time in Bangladeshโs history.โ
The statement said: โThis success marks a new era for Bangladeshโs progress and development, highlighting the role of students and youth in the national life and democracy, and the struggle for liberation from Indian conspiracies.โ
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Law Affairs Adviser and Dhaka University teacher Prof Dr. Asif Nazrul, who is widely known as an ISI agent, congratulated the Chhatra Shibir leaders. In a post on his verified Facebook page, he wrote that the politics of giving tags has been defeated by a landslide through this election. During Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, countless Shibir activists and ordinary students were subjected to inhuman torture with tags. The incidents of being handed over to the police after being beaten on suspicion of Shibir were routine. โI continuously protested this strongly. Various threats and attacks came, but I never stopped.โ
Fake votes since morning
Pre-filled ballots were provided to voters at a booth in Amar Ekushey Hall at the Curzon Hall center. Officer Ziaur Rahman has been withdrawn on this allegation.
According to a report by the British media outlet BBC Bangla, voters of Begum Rokeya Hall voted at the Teacher- Student Center (TSC). A candidate has complained that a voter’s ballot paper at this center had tick marks for two positions. Assistant Proctor AKM Nur Alam Siddiqui has confirmed the truth of this allegation.
Abu Baker Majumdar, a GS candidate of the Anti-Discrimination Student Council Panel, alleged vote rigging or election engineering. He claimed that the ballot boxes of the voters of Amar Ekushey Hall were already filled. He also highlighted the incident of Rokeya Hall. When asked who this allegation was against, he said that only those who have been active in politics for a long time can do this.
Rejections
Umama Fatema, VP candidate of the Independent Student Unity Panel, announced a boycott of the DUCSU. She made this known in a post on Facebook at 3:15am on Wednesday, as the results of the election were being announced.
โBoycott! Boycott! I boycott DUCSU.โ Terming the election a completely shameless, rigged election, she wrote: โThe DU administration has brought shame to the nation after August 5. It is a Shibir-backed administration.โ
Abidul Islam Khan, the VP candidate of the Chhatra Dal-backed panel, rejected the results, alleging planned rigging. He gave this reaction as the results came in from various polling stations at around 2:30am.
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He said: โWe estimated this result of planned rigging just after noon. The numbers have been set according to our own wishes. I reject this planned farce.โ
Tahmina Akhter, an independent VP candidate, announced a boycott of the DUCSU elections, alleging rigging. She told reporters at the TSC on Tuesday afternoon that there was vote rigging and occupation at the polling station.
She said that the farce was held to make their candidate win by using ballots filled in advance in favour of the Chhatra Shibir candidate and by using various techniques to forge.
Students are worried
For the first time since independence, Shibir has come under the control of Dhaka University due to vote rigging. Students have expressed their concern about the internationally recognised terrorist group winning DUCSU.
They say that this group has been conducting character assassinations of women in various ways before winning the elections. Their supporters have also threatened to gang rape women. Now, students are increasingly worried about what will happen if they come to power.
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Before August 5, many Shibir members, including VP-elect Abu Shadik Kayem, were involved with Chhatra League politics in disguise. In the previous years, Shibir activists actively participated in attacks on opposition parties and other crimes, like extortion.
During the movement, Shibir used its countrywide units to engage its leaders as student coordinators and unleash terror on the police and the Awami League members. They are also involved in mob attacks on religious minorities, temples and shrines.
Bot army
The bot army of Jamaat-Shibir published the results of the DUCSU elections from the morning of the day of the election. The results were announced in the afternoon on the pages controlled by Shibir, like the university family.
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In addition, they also started spreading various provocative statements against the candidates who were against Shibir. It is also clear from this that Shibir knew the results in advance.
What next
This DUCSU election is an unprecedented farce in the history of Dhaka University, which has put the impartiality and credibility of the university administration in question. Political analysts say that the DUCSU election has always been a reflection of the country’s national politics.
But the way allegations of fraud, encroachment and rigging have been raised in this election has not only questioned the democratic tradition of DUCSU, but also put the future of the entire nation in crisis.
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