Dhaka, Sept 11: The student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami has won nine out of 12 Dhaka University Central Students Union (DUCSU) posts in the recent elections, marking the first victory for an Islamist student group since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) rejected the results, accusing them of “planned manipulation” and calling the polls a “farce.”
The Jamaat-backed Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) candidate Sadik Qayem was declared as Vice-President, while SM Farhad was appointed as General Secretary.
This marks the first time since 1971 that an Islamist student group has won any university election in Bangladesh.
The Students Against Discrimination (SAD), which led the last year’s movement that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government and paved the way for Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’ interim administration, failed to make an impact amid internal splits.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Hasnat Abdullah urged all parties to respect the outcome, while the interim government disbanded Awami League’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).
Jamaat-e-Islami appears to have consolidated its political influence, with its student activists credited for their role in last year’s “July Uprising.”