DUCSU Polls: Campus erupts of female candidate harassment

DU Correspondent :

Dhaka University campus has become tense after Ali Hussain, a student of the 2020-21 session of the university’s sociology department, threatened Fahmida Alam, candidate of the Liberation War and Democratic Movement Affairs secretary of the panel ‘Aparajeyo 71-Adamya 24’, a panel of three leftist student organizations, in a Facebook status on Monday, the day the High Court announced the suspension of the DUCSU elections based on the filing of this writ and 35 minutes later the Chamber Court suspended the suspension order of the DUCSU elections, with a gang rape march and accusing leaders and activists of different panels of DUCSU elections of blaming each other for the political identity of the culprit.

Alleging Ali Hussen, who harassed the female candidate, is a Shibir leader, Chhatra Dal held protest marches at all educational institutions across the country, including the DU campus, on Tuesday, top leaders of leftist organizations, Umama Fatima, VP candidate of ‘SwatantraShikkharthiOikka’ and Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad also claimed the culprit a Shibir activist and called on Shibir to come out of covert politics.

Abidul Islam Khan said at the protest, “I call on the university administration and the state to arrest Ali Hussen immediately.”

S M Farhad, DU Shibir President, denied calling Ali Hussen a Shibir activist at a press conference on Tuesday and said that he had submitted a written complaint against Ali Hussen to the Proctor on Monday night and had personally called Fahmida Alam, who was threatened with rape, to provide legal assistance.

Farhad showed some documents of cyber bullying to the female candidates of their panel and claimed no one stands for them.

Abu Shadik Kayem, VP candidate of the Shibir-backed panel, said in that press conference,” If you check the Facebook ID of the boy who called a female student this way, you will see he has more than ten posts appreciating Chhatra Dal; then he is very much a Chhatra Dal activist.

However, the University administration and DUCSU and the Hall of Parliament Election Commission have formed two separate investigation committees to probe the incident of threatening to rape a candidate.

The Appellate Division of Supreme Court is set to hear the appeal against the High Court order today (3 September) that postponed the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (Ducsu) election till 30 October based on the writ of S M Farhad’s GS candidacy, after the chamber court imposed its stay on the HC directive.