JI-backed candidates claim key victories in Dhaka University elections

Dhaka, September 10, 2025 – In a landmark outcome that signals a major transformation in Dhaka University’s political landscape, candidates supported by Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, have secured the Vice President and General Secretary positions in the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election.

The polls, held after a six-year gap, saw an impressive 78% voter turnout from the total 39,775 eligible students across eight campus centers, conducted under a festive atmosphere as announced by the Returning Office.

Abu Shadik Kayem, running under the “Oikyaboddho Shikkharthi Jote” panel, clinched the Vice President role with 14,042 votes, defeating his closest rival Abidul Islam Khan of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal-backed panel, who garnered 5,708 votes. Independent candidate Umama Fatema received 3,389 votes for the same position.

For General Secretary, SM Farhad from the same Shibir-supported panel won with 10,794 votes, while Mohiuddin Khan, another Shibir affiliate, took the Assistant General Secretary post. Full results were declared from the university’s Senate Bhaban and are accessible via official records.

Both Shadik and Farhad are prominent figures in Shibir’s Dhaka University unit—Shadik as the former president and Farhad as the current general secretary.

They had previously concealed their affiliations by posing as Chhatra League members but openly identified with Shibir following the July mass uprising that ousted Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5 last year. Shibir, historically banned from campus since 1990.

The victory marks the first time Shibir-backed candidates have won top DUCSU posts since Bangladesh’s independence, breaking a pattern where leftist panels dominated in the 1970s and 1980s, followed by wins from Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal, and others in later years. However, the results have sparked immediate controversy, with defeated candidates accusing the process of rigging.

Abidul Islam Khan dismissed the outcome as a “planned farce,” stating, “Keep the figures as you wish. I reject this planned farce.” Umama Fatema echoed this in a midnight Facebook post, calling it “shamelessly rigged” and criticizing the university administration as “run by Shibir loyalists,” which she said shamed the nation after the events of August 5.

This election, the ninth since 1971 (with the 1973 polls invalidated due to ballot snatching), underscores the evolving dynamics on campus amid Bangladesh’s recent political upheaval.