After six years, the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election is slated for September 9—without the country’s largest and oldest student organization, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).
According to university figures, 658 nomination forms have been collected for 28 posts; halls reported selling 1,427 forms in total. Pro-Liberation student groups say these headline numbers mask a fundamentally exclusionary process.
The vote is being organized under the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which took power last year after the ouster of the Awami League government.
BCL leaders and allied groups contend the authorities—backed by elements of the military and Islamist factions—have structured DUCSU to proceed without pro-Liberation forces on the ballot.
Allegations of obstruction flared late Monday when students reported a “mob” blocked nominations at Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall, a women’s dormitory. In response, the Election Commission extended the filing deadline by one day and formed a three-member inquiry headed by Assistant Proctor Md. Rabiul Islam. University officials rejected accusations of bias, saying the extension was meant to ensure “equal opportunities.”
Panels still in flux
As of Wednesday (August 20), nominations remain open until 5 p.m. The final voter roll lists 39,775 students—20,873 men and 18,902 women. Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) had not finalized a full slate amid internal debates; Islami Chhatra Shibir announced a complete 28-member panel; the left-leaning Democratic Students’ Alliance (Resistance Council) issued a partial list; and several independents joined the race. Rival groups criticized the extended deadline as “special privilege,” a claim the administration denies.
Election without BCL
BCL, which dominated the most recent DUCSU in 2019, remains barred. Since August 5, 2024, thousands of activists have faced violence, expulsions from halls, and systemic exclusion from academic life. Homes of BCL leaders were reportedly attacked and burned in multiple districts. Under these conditions, they say, holding DUCSU reduces Bangladesh’s “second parliament” to a one-sided exercise.
Radical Islamist groups, aided by some elements in the army, exploited last year’s anti-quota agitation to topple the elected government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and install the Yunus-led interim authority.
On October 23, 2024, that administration formally banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League—an organization long associated with the country’s Liberation War—effectively removing BCL from student politics at Dhaka University.
Polling logistics
For the first time, voting will take place at six neutral centers outside the residential halls—Curzon Hall Examination Center, TSC, DU Club, the Senate Building, the Physical Education Center, and Udayan School and College—from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The preliminary candidate list is due August 21 (1 p.m.), withdrawals by August 25 (1 p.m.), and the final list by August 26 (4 p.m.).
