Chhatra Dal continued its program to surround the Election Commission (EC) for the second consecutive day on Monday, protesting what it described as undue influence of a particular political group within the commission and raising concerns over the postal ballot system.
More than a hundred leaders and activists of the student organisation were seen taking positions in front of and around the Election Commission in the capital’s Agargaon area. They remained on the road outside the EC’s security cordon, chanting slogans and delivering speeches throughout the program.
In view of the demonstration, members of the police, Ansar, RAB, as well as the army, navy and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), were deployed around the EC premises.
At the outset of the program, Dhaka University Chhatra Dal President Ganesh Chandra Roy Sahas said the national election is scheduled for February 12 and that Chhatra Dal has extended cooperation to ensure a fair poll.
“A particular group is conspiring around the election process. Voters are being moved from one area to another to ensure victory,” he alleged, adding that he did not want to name the group so as not to give it publicity.
Another Chhatra Dal leader claimed that groups associated with Ducsu, Rucsu and other university student unions had previously seized power through what he termed “election engineering” and were now attempting to apply the same tactics in the upcoming national election. “This conspiracy will not be allowed to succeed,” he said.
On Sunday, a five-member Chhatra Dal delegation led by its president Rakibul Islam met Senior Secretary of the Election Commission Akhtar Ahmed during the first day of the program. Following the meeting, Rakibul Islam said the siege would continue until the organisation’s three-point demands are met. The protest was paused later that evening and resumed on Monday.
Chhatra Dal’s demands include: the withdrawal of what it calls the EC’s biased and questionable decisions regarding postal ballots, which it says have cast doubt on the impartiality of the election; an end to decisions allegedly taken under pressure from a particular political group, undermining the commission’s independence and professionalism; and the withdrawal of what it describes as an unprecedented and controversial EC notification regarding the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Students’ Union election, which it claims reflects political interference and threatens democratic practice at universities.
