The first election to Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) in 28 years will be held on March 11.The voting will begin at 8:00am and end at 2:00pm. Students in 17 dormitories will cast their votes in their respective halls, according to the DUCSU constitution. The DU authorities have announced electoral code of conduct like the parliamentary polls. Student leaders however have welcomed the move to finally hold the polls. DUCSU was formed in 1922; a year after the DU was established. The previous DUCSU election was held in 1990. All these years, the DU authorities took several initiatives to hold the polls. But those were unsuccessful, mainly due to violence and the fear of violence.
After the 1990 election, the then vice-chancellor Prof Moniruzzaman Miah announced the schedule for the next polls on January 12, 1991. But a group of students staged demonstrations demanding introduction of “special admission”. Later in 1994, the then VC Prof Emajuddin Ahmed announced an election schedule but that attempt was also halted. The committee constituted through the 1990 election was dissolved in 1998. Following a writ petition filed by 25 former DU students in March 2012, the High Court on January 17 last year directed the authorities concerned and the government to hold the election in six months.
The student platform played a key role in all the democratic movements including the 1971 Liberation War. Thus it remains a mystery as to how the repeated movements to hold elections were halted time and time again. More mysterious is the fact that the university took no initiatives by itself to hold elections in a timely manner but rather had to do so after getting a directive from the Supreme Court.
The nation, and indeed the university students, can only hope that this election is held peacefully and is seen by everyone to be fair and impartial. Such a free and fair election will help the students regain their long lost right to vote for an organisation which deals with their internal affairs. Let us hope for such a free, fair and peaceful election.
After the 1990 election, the then vice-chancellor Prof Moniruzzaman Miah announced the schedule for the next polls on January 12, 1991. But a group of students staged demonstrations demanding introduction of “special admission”. Later in 1994, the then VC Prof Emajuddin Ahmed announced an election schedule but that attempt was also halted. The committee constituted through the 1990 election was dissolved in 1998. Following a writ petition filed by 25 former DU students in March 2012, the High Court on January 17 last year directed the authorities concerned and the government to hold the election in six months.
The student platform played a key role in all the democratic movements including the 1971 Liberation War. Thus it remains a mystery as to how the repeated movements to hold elections were halted time and time again. More mysterious is the fact that the university took no initiatives by itself to hold elections in a timely manner but rather had to do so after getting a directive from the Supreme Court.
The nation, and indeed the university students, can only hope that this election is held peacefully and is seen by everyone to be fair and impartial. Such a free and fair election will help the students regain their long lost right to vote for an organisation which deals with their internal affairs. Let us hope for such a free, fair and peaceful election.
