DUCSU polls: Aparajeyo-71 panel calls for disqualifying Shibir candidates

The leftist bloc also set four demands, including fair campaigning and campus security

The joint left-wing student panel, Aparajeyo-71 and Oddommo-24, has called for the disqualification of Islami Chhatra Shibir candidates from the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections.

Speaking at Madhur Canteen on Tuesday, Anamul Hasan Onoy, the panel’s general secretary candidate, said allowing Shibir candidates to contest would go against the values of Bangladesh’s founding struggle.

“The defeated forces of ’71 and ’24 -- Shibir and Chhatra League -- must be disqualified,” he said. “Allowing them to contest means creating a conflicting position against the country’s soil, mothers and people.”

Onoy alleged that when the university administration earlier called the panel to a meeting, they were not given the chance to place their views.

“The administration only spoke one-sidedly. That is why, through [Tuesday’s] press briefing, we are placing four demands,” he said.

The panel Aparajeyo-71 and Oddommo-24 is backed by factions of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Socialist Students’ Front, and Bangladesh Chhatra League-BCL, the student wing of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD).

Vice-president candidate Md Naim Hasan Hridoy, from the same panel, also outlined the four demands at the briefing. They include:

• Ensuring a level playing field by removing campaign irregularities, particularly easing repeated hall administration permission requirements for female candidates.

• Cancelling candidacy of panels linked to “war criminal” student groups and allies of past autocratic regimes, in line with DUCSU’s constitution on aims and objectives.

• Avoiding deployment of the Army as a “striking force” during the election, instead employing skilled personnel under the election commission if required.

• Repairing existing CCTV cameras on campus before polling day and installing new ones where needed to ensure student safety.