NN ONLINE:
Leaders and activists from the Rajshahi University chapter of Chhatra Dal have locked and vandalized the treasurer’s office, demanding that first-year students be granted voting rights in the Rajshahi University Central Student Union (RUCSU) elections.
At about 9:30 am on Sunday, the group, led by Sultan Ahmed Rahi, the Chhatra Dal president at the university, surrounded the treasurer’s office. About an hour later, they entered and damaged the tables and chairs used for collecting nomination papers. Treasurer Setaur Rahman said he had been unable to access his office since the morning. “They have surrounded the office since this morning, and now they have locked it again. I cannot enter,” Rahman said. “There are several ways to press demands. This is not one of them.” Rahi asserted that the administration had rejected their demands from the outset. “We have stated from the beginning that first-year students should have voting rights. The administration did not accept it. So today we surrounded the treasurer’s office,” he said. “The movement will continue until our demands are met.”
Other Chhatra Dal leaders joined the protest, including Organising Secretary Mahmudul Mithu, Bijoy-24 Hall president Gazi Ferdous Hasan, Vice President Ahsan Habib, and Joint General Secretary Hasib Hasan. Approximately a hundred activists remained outside the office for much of the morning, and the demonstration was ongoing at the time of reporting. The central committee of the University Teachers Association of Bangladesh and some Rajshahi University faculty members expressed solidarity with the protest. Attempts to contact Deputy Vice-Chancellor Mayeen Uddin and Proctor Mahbubur Rahman were unsuccessful. The commission had announced the election schedule on July 28. Under the revised timetable (the fourth revision), Sunday was the last day to distribute nomination papers, which are collected from the treasurer’s office.
According to the schedule, nomination papers will be submitted from Sept 1 to 4, scrutinised on Sept 6 and 7, and a preliminary list of candidates will be published on Sept 8. Objections will be heard and disposed of on Sept 9, with candidates allowed to withdraw their papers on Sept 10. The final list will be published on Sept 11.
Voting will be held in all academic buildings on Sept 25, from 9am to 4pm, with results expected the same day.
