Home
+
Published : 29 Aug 2025, 02:44 AM
Women students were at the forefront of the July-August 2024 protests at Jahangirnagar University. Yet a year later, their presence in the long-awaited Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) election appears markedly diminished.
Although the student body is split almost evenly between men and women, female candidates are fewer in number and less visible in campaigning. Women account for only 25 percent of total candidates, compared with 75 percent men.
No woman is in the running for the vice president (VP) post. Of 15 candidates for general secretary (GS), just two are women. Four other executive posts drew 38 nominations, but not a single female contender.
Across all hall union elections, women make up 24.4 percent of candidates—and in five women’s halls, 15 posts have no female nominees at all.
WHY SO FEW?
The absence of women has prompted debate on campus. Female students themselves cite lack of encouragement and barriers such as cyberbullying, which they say discourages them from running.
Some fear that unless the election is conducted in a secure and fair environment, female participation could also be suppressed at the polling centres.
NO WOMEN CONTESTING VP POST
Despite 21 nominations for vice-president, not a single woman is standing. Female candidates are scarce across other key posts, with only two for general secretary and none at all in four major executive positions.
By contrast, the reserved post of assistant general secretary (AGS) has drawn 10 female candidates.
Yet in four key executive positions, namely literary and publication, sports, social service and human resource development, and transport and communications secretary, a total of 38 nominations were filed, but none by women.
For the posts of drama secretary, IT and library secretary, and health and food security secretary, only three women are standing against 46 male candidates.
Female representation is somewhat stronger in cultural roles. The positions of environment and nature conservation secretary, cultural secretary, and assistant cultural secretary have each drawn two women candidates among 14, 9, and 11 nominations respectively.
Even in the six reserved seats — assistant general secretary, assistant sports secretary, assistant social
service and human resource secretary, and three executive member posts — female participation has been limited, with only 43 nominations filed.
FEW CANDIDATES FOR MANY POSTS
According to the hall constitutions, elections were scheduled for 15 posts. Comparatively fewer candidates, however, have come forward in female halls.
Among 21 halls -- 10 for female students and 11 for male students -- a total of 467 nominations have been submitted for 315 posts. Of these, 340 are male candidates and 128 are female candidates.
Only 24.4 percent of candidates in the hall are female.
Several halls, including Nawab Faizunnesa, Sufia Kamal, Begum Khaleda Zia, have no candidates for at least five of the 15 posts.
Even in halls where female candidates exist, the number of contestants per post is low. Some posts have an equal number of candidates.
In Nawab Faizunnesa Hall, six candidates have submitted nominations; in 13 No Female Hall, six; in Sufia Kamal Hall, 10; in Begum Khaleda Zia Hall, 11; and in Pritilata Hall, 13 candidates.
In Fazilatunnesa Hall, 15 candidates have filed; in Jahanara Imam Hall, 16; and in 15 No Female Hall, Bir Protik Taramon Bibi Hall, and Rokeya Hall, 17 candidates each.
Statistics indicate that in many posts, winners are likely to be declared unopposed.
FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN PANELS
So far, no female candidates have been fielded for the top two positions – VP and GS -- in any of the panels.
Only the reserved post of joint secretary (female) has female contenders, with the VP and GS positions predominantly contested by male students.
In the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed Combined Students’ Alliance panel and the likely panel of Jatiytabadi Chhatra Dal, all six female candidates are contesting reserved posts.
In the Students’ Unity Forum panel backed by Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad (BGCS), six out of eight female candidates are running for reserved positions.
The probable panel of Abdur Rashid Jitu–Shakil Ali includes four female candidates, all for reserved seats.
The highest number of female candidates – 12 -- are in the Unity of Harmony panel supported by nine organisations under the Cultural Alliance and Chhatra Union (Adri–Arko).
‘TAGGING-BULLYING A KEY FACTOR’
Rezwana Karim Snigdha, associate professor of Anthropology, said: “Because the JUCSU election had not been held for a long time, its significance did not reach women students. Since last year’s Aug 5 Uprising, women in mainstream politics have faced widespread harassment, including ridicule of their bodies. Even senior female politicians have been targeted online, discouraging many young women from participating in politics or elections.”
“While female students at Jahangirnagar University are mentally resilient in protests, they are less active in the political culture.”
Tammi Rahman, a student of the philosophy department, said: “Due to state structures and attitudes, women’s contributions aren’t fully recognised.
“Often, female students are used as tools in movements but not properly credited afterwards, discouraging their participation.”
Another student, Mehzabeen Hasan Hridi, felt that “tagging and bullying” play a significant part. “For women, politics is not just about ideas -- it also means enduring psychological strain. If you look at the comments on social media reports, you’ll notice that whenever a woman expresses an opposing view, attacks quickly shift towards her character, using abusive language.”
She added: “Unwarranted labelling affects both men and women, but many women lose interest in campus politics because of the mental pressure and negative experiences of tagging and bullying.”
Adri Ankur, a vice-president candidate from a Chhatra Union faction, said: “We see competition between panels over how many women and how many men they include. But we believe it is not about numbers of women, men or indigenous students in a panel. Rather, those who are competent to represent the students’ interests should contest.”
Sharun Ehsan, GS candidate from the Unity of Harmony panel, submitted a memorandum to the university administration and Election Commission demanding the closure of websites that host cyberbullying and offensive remarks targeting women.
Nadia Rahman Onnesha, spokesperson for the BGCS Jahangirnagar University chapter, said: “One of the major reasons for low female participation in this election is the failure to create a safe political environment for women after the 5th of August.
“In addition, women who try to lead from the front are frequently subjected to cyberbullying and sl*t-shaming. The toxic political culture of the past 16 years has left many women with bad experiences, which likely explains their reluctance in this election,” she added.
Philosophy professor and novelist Rayhan Rhyne said: “A possible reason for the shortage of candidates in hall councils is that those who did submit nominations have already faced disparagement and attacks on social media.
“Such attacks have increased after the rise of right-wing conservatives following the mass uprising. The fact that perpetrators have at times been rewarded has also fuelled this trend.”
He added: “We have seen women join movements shoulder to shoulder with men, but afterwards there have been attempts to isolate them. That too may be a contributing factor.”
ELECTION TIMELINE
The last JUCSU election was held in 1992. Following the July Uprising last year, efforts began to announce a roadmap for the first election in nearly 33 years.
The university delayed the process at least twice before students’ pressure led to the roadmap being announced on Dec 30.
A draft voter list was published on Jan 10, and following several events, the election schedule was announced on 30 April. The election date was set for Jul 31, but postponed multiple times until Sept 11.
According to that schedule, candidates collected and submitted nomination papers on Aug 18, 19 and 21. Verification and scrutiny took place between Aug 21 and 24, with a draft list of candidates published on Aug 25.
Appeals regarding validity and cancellation were accepted on Aug 26, with hearings held on Aug 27.
Nomination withdrawal ended on Thursday, and the final candidate list will be published on Friday.
Polling will be held on Sept 11 from 9am to 5pm, with vote counting and result announcements beginning at 7pm in the university’s Senate Building.
