The Dhaka University (DU) authorities are set to sit with all active student organizations of its campus on Sunday, to hold discussions on the long overdue Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections.
The last time the DUCSU elections were held was in 1990, the same year military dictator HM Ershad was ousted.
On Wednesday, the DU authorities issued a letter regarding the discussions, signed by DU Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani,to all central and DU unit presidents and general secretaries of student organizations.
The university authorities took the initiative a day after a contempt of court was filed against the DU vice-chancellor, proctor and treasurer,following a writ petition filed by 15 former DUstudents.
The discussion will be held at the Abdul Matin Chowdhury digital classroom of the university at 11:30am on Sunday, according to the letter.
When contacted, Prof Golam Rabbani said: “After considering the overall situation, we will hold discussions with student organizations about the DUCSU polls.”
He further said they had already started updating the DUCSU voter list.
Praising the move, Chhatra League DU unit General Secretary MdSaddam Hussain expressed hope that all student organizations would unite in the demand to hold the DUCSU polls.
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal central unit General Secretary Akramul Haque also welcomed the initiative to hold discussions with student organizations, and said political coexistence was needed to hold the elections.
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 to hold the DUCSU polls “at a suitable time, preferably within six months.”
The bench had observed that the legitimate expectations of the DU students to cast their vote had been violated by not holding DUCSU elections for over 28 years in a row since 1990.According to the Dhaka University Order 1973,the DUCSU election has to be held every year.
The court also said the DU senate could not be formed without five elected representatives of the DUCSU.
The DU senate has been formed without DUSCU representatives for too long, it added.
On September 4, lawyer Manzill Murshid sent a legal notice to the DU authorities on behalf of 15 former DU students,asking that steps be taken to hold the DUCSU election within seven days.
When the authorities did not take any steps in this regard, the lawyer filed a contempt of court petition on Wednesday, as the DU authorities' failure violated a High Court rule that had ordered the holding of the polls.
