Desk Report,
Sadiq Kayem has created a ‘mechanism’ inside the center, while Chhatra Dal is doing it from outside: Abdul Quader
Abdul Quader, the vice-president (VP) candidate of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Union, has accused the Dhaka University administration of being biased in the DUCSU elections. He alleged that Sadiq Kayem, the VP candidate of the Islami Chhatra Shibir-supported panel, went inside the polling station and did ‘mechanism’, while the Chhatra Dal is doing ‘mechanism’ from outside.
Sadiq Kayem has created a ‘mechanism’ inside the center, while Chhatra Dal is doing it from outside: Abdul Quader
The DUCSU elections will be held from 8 am to 4 pm on Tuesday. After that, the counting of votes will begin. Abdul Quader spoke at a press conference at TSC around 9 pm.
Abdul Quader, the former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement, said, ‘The DUCSU elections are not for students; rather, this election is clearly an election for reckoning and power sharing between Jamaat-BNP, Chhatra Dal-Shibir.’ Alleging, Abdul Quader said, ‘We have already said that this election commission is completely incompetent and a kneeling commission. They are divided into two parts. One part worked for Chhatra Dal, the other for Shibir. They imposed many restrictions from campaigning to nomination papers, but the candidates broke the rules, but the commission took no action.
Abdul Quader said that there was an expectation that there would be a fair election, “But the Election Commission has proven its inefficiency, they have failed.” He said, “Sadiq Kayem has created mechanisms from within, and Chhatra Dal has also exerted influence from outside.”
Alleging irregularities in the election, the VP candidate of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Parliament said, “We saw that names were already filled in the ballot papers at the polling stations. When we complained about this, only the ballots were changed.”
Abdul Quader said, “Today it has become clear that the Election Commission and the administration are immersed in the politics of power sharing. We have seen that the VC, proctors, and assistant proctors have all distributed posts through sharing. Many are pro-Jamaat, many are pro-BNP. The interests of the students have been completely ignored.’
Noting that the VC (Vice Chancellor) has made the proctor powerful by forming a Senior Management Team (SMT), Abdul Quader said, ‘However, the proctor is far below the VC in terms of status as a teacher. In this way, he has been placed at the center of the administration to implement the agenda of Jamaat-Shibir. The proctor is running a shadow government in the halls in the name of the disciplinary committee, making mechanisms everywhere. Only the proctor knew who would be in charge regarding the appointment of 170 polling officers.’
Overall, although the students participated sincerely in today’s election, Abdul Quader commented that it has been questioned due to the failure and party influence of the administration and the Election Commission. He said, ‘We demand an unconditional apology from the university administration and will take further steps after discussing with the students.’
At that time, Abu Baker Majumder, the General Secretary (GS) candidate of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Parliament, said, ‘We have noticed many inconsistencies throughout the day today. The commission was responsible for creating an environment according to these rules and regulations, from where voters will enter, from where ordinary people will not be able to enter. But they have completely failed in that. As a result, chaos has been created at every center.’
Although voting began in a peaceful atmosphere in the morning, irregularities were detected at various places later, said Abu Baker Majumdar. He said, ‘Especially in Ekushey Hall, Rokeya Hall, Shamsunnahar Hall, direct allegations of irregularities have been received in these three halls. It was seen there that one party is blaming the other party. Chhatra Dal is blaming Shibir, and Shibir is blaming Chhatra Dal. However, it was clearly seen on the campus that both the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami are standing around. They have made their student organizations face each other in a power struggle.’
