The Independent Student Unity panel has announced its candidacy for the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) election, with the slogan "Politically conscious, academic campus."
Umama Fatema is contesting from the panel for the position of vice president (VP), Al Sadi Bhuiyan for general secretary (GS), and Zahed Ahmed for assistant general secretary (AGS).
On Tuesday evening, the panel unveiled its 11-point election manifesto at a press conference held at the Madhur Canteen.
Ideology of the panel
At the beginning of the manifesto, the panel presents the slogan: "No partisanship, no depoliticisation."
When asked whether the panel holds a specific ideology, GS candidate Al Sadi Bhuiyan told Stream, "We don't have a collective ideology. We must work together for the students' interest, that is our ideology. Just representing the students, working for students, going beyond our own interests, beyond personal interests."
Obstacles faced during the campaign
When asked whether they are facing any obstacles during the campaign, GS candidate Al Sadi responded, "We are not facing any direct obstruction. However, we have noticed that members of politically-backed student organisations are trying to influence students in various ways, offering food or spending money. We believe they are using party power and financial resources to do this.
"To me, this seems quite negative. If they try to buy student support with money, it reflects their political bankruptcy and shows they are undermining the students," he added.
Why would students vote for this panel?
In response to why students would vote for their panel, Al Sadi said, "Students will vote for us for their own interest. Because if we are elected, we will not sell out their mandate for power. We will work solely for the students. Our manifesto contains achievable promises that can be implemented within a year."
He said he firmly believed if elected, "students' interests will be protected".
"And we will not engage in any other work except for the students. For this, the students will vote for us because of their interest, for them."
What is in the manifesto
- Partisan-Free Academic Campus: The panel aims to eliminate partisan influence from university administration and academics, hold DUCSU elections annually, and bring perpetrators of attacks during the July movement to justice.
- Academic standards and research: Promises include organising academic writing and software training, introducing referencing courses from the first year, providing resources for research, offering Braille and audiobooks for visually impaired students, launching career-guidance courses, upgrading engineering labs with GPUs, improving the university press, and enhancing classroom quality.
- Career and employment: The panel pledges to organise internships, career seminars, and job fairs; create part-time jobs for early-year students; connect student entrepreneurs with investors; launch mentorship programs; and provide financial support for top research projects and startups.
- Religious and communal harmony: Initiatives have been mentioned to include major social festivals of tribal students as holidays in the academic calendar to maintain religious harmony. A standing committee would be formed to take action against hateful comments or harassment against minority students, and a promise has been made to build central places of worship for different religious communities.
- Women-friendly and safe campus: The panel promises to strengthen the sexual harassment cell with online complaint updates, create a cyberbullying prevention cell, offer three days of optional period leave monthly, install sanitary pad vending machines, extend female students' hall entry times, increase security, and establish day-care centres.
- Health and food security: The panel promises to establish supervised canteens in all university halls with food subsidies, modernise medical centres, increase ambulances, expand health insurance, and set up large-scale mental health counselling centres and helplines.
- Housing: Ensure full housing for all students, quick seat allocation for freshmen, new halls for female students, improved internet, and scientific pest control in dorms.
- Transportation: Increase bus trips, restart shuttle services, launch new routes via Padma Bridge, manage campus traffic, and provide extra buses during holidays.
- Digitalisation: Fully digitise admin and academic processes, create a student mobile app, offer free campus Wi-Fi, and enable live tracking of transport.
- Sports: Renovate sports facilities, modernise the gym, form a non-political athlete selection panel, and provide scholarships for talented athletes.
- Environment and sanitation: Install more dustbins, reduce plastic use, plant trees, recycle waste, use solar energy, and ban noisy hydraulic horns on campus.
Students' views on the panel's strengths and weaknesses
Sikder Md Waliullah Oli, a student of the 2022-23 session in the Institute of Leather Products Engineering, told Stream, "I think the strength and weakness of the Independent Student Unity panel lie in the same place. This panel brings together people with different ideologies. Because of this, they can listen to students without aligning with any particular political faction — at least that's what they have claimed so far. However, having people with diverse views in the panel may lead to disagreements when making decisions."
Hasib Rahman Jaber from the anthropology department noted that while the panel has well-known faces like Umama Fatema, it lags behind others in door-to-door campaigning and reaching hall-level students.
He highlighted Umama's appeal to female voters as a key strength.
Muhyuddin Iqbal from the Department of History praised Umama's long activism and Al Sadi's organisational skills, but said the panel lacks media attention compared to politically connected groups, putting them at a disadvantage.
Who are the candidates on the panel?
The Independent Student Unity panel announced its candidacy for the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) elections at a press conference in front of Aparajeyo Bangla on 21 August. The nominees are:
- Umama Fatema for the position of vice president (VP),
- Al Sadi Bhuiyan for general secretary (GS),
- Zahed Ahmed for assistant general secretary (AGS),
- Numan Ahamad Chowdhury for the liberation war and democratic movement secretary;
- Mominul Islam Bidhan for the science and technology secretary;
- Nafiz Bashar Alif for international affairs secretary;
- Surmi Chakma for the common room, reading room and cafeteria secretary;
- Anid Hasan for the literature and cultural affairs secretary;
- Siam Ferdous Emon for research and publication secretary;
- Md Sadikuzzaman Sarkar for sports secretary;
- Md Rafiz Khan for student transport secretary;
- Tanvir Samad for the social services secretary;
- Rupaiya Shrestha Tanchangya for the career development secretary;
- Israt Jahan Nijhum for the health and environment secretary;
- Nusrat Jahan Nisu for the human rights and legal affairs secretary.
The panel members are Naureen Sultana Toma, Abid Abdullah, Bobby Biswas, Md Shakil, Md Hasan Zubair (Tufan), Abdullah Al Mubin (Rifat), Ark Barua, Abir Hasan, Newaz Sharif Arman, Md Muktarul Islam (Ridoy), Hasibur Rahman, Rafiul Haque Rafi, Md Sajib Hossain and Sadequr Rahman Sunny.
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