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Election tainted by anomalies

React ex-Ducsu leaders

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
Referring to yesterday's Ducsu polls, the former leaders of the students' body said the "vote rigging" had never been so outrageous in the previous elections held after the country's independence.
They also termed the election as "unprecedented" as it was held in a “peaceful manner", but most of the candidates boycotted the election at the eleventh hour, bringing allegation of "vote rigging" and creating "systematic hindrances" for the general students to cast their ballots.
In all the Ducsu elections held between 1972 and 1990, the opposition panels swept away the ruling party's panel as "the students have always been realistic with a tendency to vote against the incumbency."
"This election has overshadowed the stigma of the elections held under the Ayub-Monayem regime. It is a great shame. The role of Dhaka University authority is unforgivable," Mujahidul Islam Selim, the first elected vice-president of Ducsu after the independence and now president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, told The Daily Star ypesterday.
In 1972 election, BCL panel led by Sheikh Shahidul Islam and Monirul Huq Chowdhury was defeated by Bangladesh Chhatra Union panel led by Selim and Mahbub Zaman. BCL panel won only one post in that election.
Former Ducsu vice-president Mahfuza Khanam also echoed the same, saying the incident of "vote rigging” that took place in yesterday's election was “unprecedented".
"In 1973, there was an incident of ballot hijacking, and the votes were not counted due to the allegation.
"But vote rigging had never occurred in Ducsu election. Such an incident will not send any good
message," she said.
"We compromise on many occasions but the students never compromise, and this has been proved once again. I congratulate them and hope that they will remain honest in the future.” she said.
On July 24, 1979, Ducsu election was held under the then ruler Ziaur Rahman where JSD-BCL panel led by Mahmudur Rahman Manna and Akhtaruzzaman won 15 seats while the rest four was bagged by another BCL panel led by Obaidul Quader and Bahalul Majlul Chunnu.
Manna said the election of the student union reflects the strategy of the government during the December 30 election.
"To my knowledge, I cannot remember of any vote rigging incident in the history of Ducsu," he added.
In the Ducsu election held on November 11, 1980, the ruling party-backed Chhatra Dal panel led by Golam Sarwar Milon and MA Kamal lost the election to the BCL panel led by Quader and Chunnu.
"In almost all the Ducsu election,
the ruling party-backed panel was rejected outright because of the antiincumbency effect. It is the nature of the youth to protest and they showed their protest in all the election through their ballots," Manna said.
During the Ershad regime, the then BCL leader Sultan Monsur and Md Mustak Hossain got elected as the VP and the GS respectively.
"Neither students nor the teachers were familiar with the word vote rigging. But I cannot say what happened in Ducsu election this time," said Sultan Monsur, who recently got elected from Moulvibazar-2 in the last national election, participating with the BNP's electoral symbol - "Sheaf of Paddy".
His general secretary Mustak also echoed the same view, saying that initially they were hopeful about a free and fair election.
"I got shocked after seeing the Kuwait Maitree Hall incident. BCL's strategy of creating long queue in the hall premises and the inaction of the university authority has put the election under question," Mustak
said, adding that the election was faulty and controversial as voters were barred to cast their ballots," he added.
In the last Ducsu election held on June 6,1990, Chhatra Dal Panel led by Amanullah Aman and Khairul Kabir Khokon got 151 posts out of 188 defeating the BCL panel of Shahe Alam and Kamrul Ahsan.
Aman said, "Students always showed the way of justice and integrity during the previous Ducsu polls, no matter who was in the power. Even the ruling party-backed candidates would have faced a huge debacle this time had the election been held in a free and fair manner."
"All the democratic movements of the country ranging from the language movement to the movement against autocratic government, the students of Dhaka University and Ducsu played the key role. But this time we have seen teachers acting as the puppets of the government. It is a great shame for the nation," he added.