Rise above personal interests: Hasina tells DUCSU leaders

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked newly elected DUCSU leaders to work for the welfare of students, rising above their personal interests.

Her call came on Saturday when the leaders of Dhaka University Central Students’ Council called on her at her official residence Ganabhaban in Dhaka.

"Onus is on him who wins the polls. It is not his duty to look for who voted for him and who did not. If you work rising above your personal interests, you can become a successful leader. That’s the lesson of the Father of the Nation.”

Nurul Haq Nur, the new DUCSU vice-president from a panel of students who led the movement for reforms to the quota system in government jobs, spoke at the event.

The Mar 11 election, held after 28 years, boycotted by all major panels except for the Bangladesh Chhatra League over allegations of vote rigging.

The BCL, the ruling party's student wing, bagged most of the 25-member executive committee posts, except the VP and social services secretary positions.

“Chhatra League did not win the VP post. The news came to me. I said we could not win and it’s okay. But you should congratulate him who won and extend all kinds of support to him,” Hasina said.

The government has been working to ensure that the old politics that involves gunfire and firebombing does not return to the campus, she said.

"I asked all to remain careful so that a peaceful election was held.”

After the election, some students went on hunger strike demanding re-election to DUCSU and the resignation of people engaged in conducting the polls.

On Mar 13, after visiting the students on hunger strike, the new VP vowed to continue protests against alleged irregularities and rigging in the election.

He also expressed his solidarity with the students who demanded fresh DUCSU polls by Mar 31 while leaders of panels who boycotted the Mar 11 election gave the authorities a three-day ultimatum to announce a schedule of fresh polls threatening tough protests.

The students broke their hunger strike on the fourth day, Friday night, as the university authorities assured them of hearing their demands.