Samajtantrik Chaatra Front's BaSad faction and Bangladesh Chhatra Union's Mahir-Shuvo faction. have called for ensuring democratic coexistence across university campuses and activating student unions nationwide, including Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu).
They have demanded accountability from the administration of the University of Dhaka for violating the Paribesh Parishad’s resolutions by attempting to rehabilitate Islami Chhatra Shibir and urged the immediate convening of a Paribesh Parishad meeting to establish a democratic framework for campuses.
In a joint statement, Mukta Baroi, president of the Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (BASAD) Central Committee, General Secretary Raihan Uddin, and Bangladesh Chhatra Union President Mahir Shahriar Reza and General Secretary Bahauddin Shubho stressed the urgency of reinstating student unions in educational institutions across the country.
However, they noted that such a move requires a democratic environment.
They criticized the post-uprising scenario where student politics was banned in 33 educational institutions, including 19 public universities, four government colleges, and 10 medical colleges, under the pretext of violence and administrative negligence. Even at Dhaka University, the administration of various halls has restricted political activities, thereby silencing students' voices.
They argued that holding elections under such undemocratic conditions would fail to produce the desired democratic student unions.
The student leaders demanded that these restrictive decisions be reversed immediately to ensure the peaceful coexistence of all democratic student organizations in dormitories and campuses. They reiterated the need to activate Ducsu and other student unions nationwide.
The statement expressed concern over the visible presence of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, which was complicit in war crimes and genocide during the 1971 Liberation War. The leaders alleged that the university administration has failed to provide satisfactory explanations regarding Shibir’s participation in campus politics. Instead, covert efforts are being made to rehabilitate the organization.
They highlighted Shibir’s historical legacy as the successor of Islami Chhatra Sangha, which formed the Al-Badr responsible for leading the intellectual massacre in 1971. Even after independence, Shibir engaged in controversial and violent activities, including creating a reign of terror on various campuses. This led universities like Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, and Buet to ban Shibir and similar extremist groups.
The Paribesh Parishad, a platform representing all active student organizations at Dhaka University, unanimously declared Shibir and another controversial group, Jatiya Chhatra Samaj, unwelcome and banned from campus. The leaders demanded that the administration explain its violation of this decision and convene an immediate Paribesh Parishad meeting to outline a democratic roadmap for campus politics.
Earlier, on December 10, Dhaka University organized a two-phase discussion with student organizations on "The Nature and Trends of Campus Politics." However, three organizations—Biplabi Chhatra Moitree, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (Marxist), and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (BASAD)—walked out of the second session when Chhatra Shibir participated in the meeting.
Jabir Ahmed Jubel, General Secretary of Biplabi Chhatra Moitree, questioned Shibir’s presence and stated to Dhaka Tribune: “Those who have worked against fascism on campus for a long time have never shared a platform with Islami Chhatra Shibir. Due to Shibir’s controversial role during the Liberation War and the anti-autocracy movement of the 1990s, student organisations united under the Paribesh Parishad to exclude them.”
He further argued that student organisations cannot sit with Shibir under any platform. “For this reason, Biplabi Chhatra Moitree, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (Marxist), and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (BASAD) chose not to participate in the discussion any further,” Jubel said.
