Dhaka University is going to publish today the draft voters’ roll for its long-awaited elections to the university central student union that has remained dysfunctional for more than two decades. Vice-chancellor Professor Akhtaruzzaman would publish the draft voters’ roll at Abdul Matin Chowdhury digital classroom near his office around noon, said a university press release issued on Tuesday.
The VC earlier assured the students that the DUCSU elections would be held by March next year.
The new voters’ roll would be made available on the university website and students will get chance to correct their information and file complaints if any by November 30, the press release added.
Besides, the students who are eligible to be voter, but have failed to get registered in time, can be registered by this time by contacting their respective hall provost office. On September 15, after meeting with student organisations, Professor Akhtaruzzaman at a briefing said that the DUCSU polls might be held by March 2019 and hoped that draft electoral roll for the polls would be prepared by October 2018.
On September 12, fifteen former Dhaka University students filed a contempt petition against Dhaka University vice-chancellor Md Akhtaruzzaman, proctor AKM Golam Rabbani and treasurer Kamal Uddin for violating a High Court order asking them to hold the DUCSU polls.
On January 17, the High Court bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan asked the Dhaka University authorities to take steps for holding DUCSU polls at a ‘suitable time, preferably within six months.’
The DUCSU polls, however, did not take place in 27 years because of indifference of the successive university administrations and governments reportedly in order to maintain their dominance on the campus.
This practice breached express provisions of Articles 4 and 20 of the Dhaka University Order 1973 and the fundamental rights ensured under the article 27 of the same order.This violation renders all the senate committees and vice-chancellor elections of the university in the past 27 years unconstitutional as in the university senate five seats are reserved for the student representatives that remained vacant since the fall of autocratic regime in the 1990s.
DUCSU was formed in 1924 after the establishment of Dhaka University in 1921, and its first vice-president was nominated in the 1924-25 academic session. Since then, the vice-president used to be nominated until 1953 when the first elections were held.
The latest DUCSU elections were held in 1990. It was the sixth election after independence.
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal-backed Aman-Khokon (Amanullah Aman and Khairul Kabir Khokan) panel won the election and they stayed leaders of the students’ body until its dissolution in 1998.
Source: New Age
