Dhaka: Odommo Jobian Oikko, a panel backed by radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, has registered a landslide victory, securing 16 of the 21 posts – including those of Vice-President (VP), General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary (AGS) – in the just-concluded Bangladesh’s Jagannath University Central Students Union (JnUCSU) elections, the local media reported on Thursday.
The student wings of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chhatra Dal and the Gono Odhikar Parishad, Chhatra Odhikar Parishad-backed panel ‘Oikkoboddho Nirbhik Jobian’ panel managed to win only five posts.
The election results were officially announced in the early hours of Thursday by JnUCSU Chief Election Commissioner Mostafa Hasan, leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported.
Riazul Islam of the ‘Odommo Jobian Oikko’ panel won the post of VP with 5,558 votes, defeating his closest rival, AKM Rakib of the Chhatra Dal-backed panel ‘Oikkoboddho Nirbhik Jobian’, who received 4,688 votes.
Abdul Alim Arif secured the GS post with 5,475 votes, beating Chhtra-Dal-backed candidate Khadizatul Kubra, who secured 2,023 votes. Masud Rana won the post of AGS with 5,020 votes, while his rival, Chhatra Dal-backed candidate Atikul Islam Tanzil, received 4,022 votes.
Earlier, Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed candidates won the majority of posts in student union and hall union elections at several universities, including Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, Rajshahi University, and Chittagong University, and also dominated the first-ever JnUCSU election.
In September last year, several student leaders rejected the results of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election, calling them a “planned fraud” as the Chhatra Shibir’s Shadik Kayem had been elected Vice President (VP), local media reported.
Shibir candidates Abu Shadik Kayem were elected Vice President, SM Farhad general secretary, and Mohiuddin Khan assistant general secretary (AGS).
Several candidates raised allegations of electoral irregularities during the election. Abidul Islam Khan, the BNP-backed Vice President candidate, and independent candidate Umama Fatema, along with leaders from other panels, boycotted the election.
They claimed that the Shibir alliance won the polls with the support of the university administration.
Bangladesh’s Awami League party has accused “Muhammad Yunus-backed” Dhaka University authorities of pre-filling ballots to hand victory to “Pakistan-backed Chhatra Shibir”.
Calling the election a farce, the party alleged that voters who arrived to cast their ballots were handed slips with votes already marked in the names of Shibir-backed candidates SM Farhad and Shadiq Kayem.
Critics warn that the resurgence of Jamaat-backed candidates in Bangladesh student body elections across universities could lead to a potential rise in radicalisation among youth.
IANS
Prashant Kishor to continue to help TMC till 2026 polls
By Saibal GuptaJune 16, 2021Kolkata: For the first time in his career perhaps, Prashant Kishor's I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee) will continue providing strategic help to Trinamool Congress till the...
Sasikala assures cadres of her return to AIADMK soon
June 16, 2021 Chennai: Former interim general secretary of AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala, who was expelled from the party after being arrested in a disproportionate assets case, has in a series...
Has Twitter actually lost its ‘legal shield’ in India?
June 16 New Delhi: With IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad slamming Twitter once again, ironically in a series of tweets, leading experts on Wednesday began a debate on whether the micro-blogging...
Over 23% people to have lasting post-Covid symptoms: Study
June 16, 2021Washington: Among all patients infected with the coronavirus disease, more than 23 per cent continued to suffer from one or more health issues even a month after being...
Global supply chain & goods production: Corona forces rethinking on two long held beliefs
June 17, 2021 New Delhi: The pandemic has forced global policy makers to re examine two pieces of accepted wisdom. The first is about the role of the government in...
Dhankar turns activist governor, not clear why
Diptendra Raychaudhuri June 17, 2021 Kolkata: West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is in Delhi from Tuesday evening. It is speculated that he is to brief Home Minister Amit Shah, and...
WTC: A contest between Indian batting vs Kiwi swing
June 17 New Delhi: It was decided then and there in Gabba, Brisbane, Australia, when Team India defeated a full-strength home side without their first-choice playing eleven and also in...
N.Korea should be ready for dialogue with US: Kim Jong-un
June 18, 2021Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that the country should be ready for a dialogue, as well as a confrontation with the US, state media reported on...
Soft power in border villages boosts security, shows way out of pandemic
New Delhi: Talk about India’s borders normally means security related issues of strategic importance. However, as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic shows clear signs of abating, some communities...
Forced displacement of people reaches record high of 82.4 million, says UN
Geneva: The number of people displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations in the world has increased to a record 82.4 million, according to the Global Trends...
New Indian IT Rules do not conform with international norms: UN Special Rapporteurs
June 19, 2021New Delhi: Experts at United Nations Office of the Human Rights Commissioner have said in a report that it is concerned that Indias Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and...
IMF proposes carbon price floor among large emitters to limit global warming
June 19, 2021Washington: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday proposed to set up an international carbon price floor to help limit global warming and achieve the transition toward low...
