Six students who went on hunger strike demanding a re-run of the Dhaka University Central Students Union (Ducsu) election, on Tuesday, are continuing their protest.
They gathered at the base of the Raju Sculpture, near the TSC, this morning and said they will continue their protest until their demands are met by the authorities.
One of the students observing the hunger strike, Rafia Tamanna—a third-year student of the Mass Communication and Journalism department of Dhaka University (DU)—said: "I campaigned for the candidates of Swadhikar Swatontro Jote. However, none of the candidates who contested from this panel won due to vote rigging and irregularities.
"We are here with our two-point demand. Our first demand is that the recently-held Ducsu polls be annulled and the university authority announce fresh polls so that the deserving candidates get the chance to be elected. Our second demand is that those responsible for vote rigging and irregularities be brought under the law and punished accordingly."
Tamnna joined the hunger strike around 8:30am on Wednesday.
Echoing this, Taohid Tanjim—a fourth-year student of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at DU—said: "I was a candidate for the Swatontro Jote panel for the post of student transport secretary.
"When I was in the queue—in order to exercise my franchise at Shadillah Hall—I saw people playing ludu and creating obstructions so that the general students waiting in the long lines would lose interest and not vote."
"We demand fresh polls that will be free and fair," he added.
Tauhid joined the hunger strike around 6pm on Tuesday.
General students, as well as students from Ruqayyah Hall, came to visit the hunger-strike-observing students and expressed their solidarity and support for their demands.
Faculty members of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering also visited the protesting students in the morning.
Previously, the long-overdue elections for Ducsu and its hall unions were held on Monday.
Quota Reform Movement leader Nurul Haq Nur was elected vice-president (VP) of Ducsu, while Bangladesh Chhatra League general secretary Golam Rabbani was elected as its general secretary.
Eight of nine secretary posts went to candidates from Chhatra League panel.
After the results were published, all panels—except that of Chhatra League—rejected the results alleging irregularities. They demanded a re-run of the election for all the posts—except those of the vice president and social welfare—plus announced that they will boycott classes for an indefinite period of time.