For the first time in 46 years since its establishment, the constitution of the Islamic University (IU) Central Students’ Union (Iucsu) has been approved by the university syndicate.
The constitutions of both central and hall unions were approved during the IU’s 271st syndicate meeting on 31 October and sent to the University Grants Commission (UGC). The documents will be incorporated into the university law in the form of an ordinance once approved by the Ministry of Education and endorsed by the president.
According to the Iucsu constitution, there will be 25 posts in central union and 15 posts in hall union each. Of these, students will be able to directly vote for 23 positions in the central union and 13 in the hall unions.
The vice-chancellor will serve as the president of the central union, while the treasurer will be chosen from among the union members. In the case of hall unions, the respective provost will act as president, and the assistant provost will serve as treasurer. Except for the non-elected positions, students will be eligible to contest for the rest.
Full-time undergraduate, postgraduate, and MPhil students can become candidates by paying a membership fee to be included in the voter list. Evening course students, professional course students, and those expelled from the university will be excluded from voting rights. For MPhil students, however, an age limit of 30 years has been set, and they will be allowed to participate in the student union election only once.
Meanwhile, student leaders have expressed dissatisfaction over the constitution not granting elected student representatives’ membership in the syndicate. They argue that without syndicate membership, the student union will lose its effectiveness. They emphasised that the student union is essential to strengthen students’ voices in the university’s policymaking process, and demanded that elections be fair, neutral, and participatory.
Sahed Ahmed, convener of IU’s student wing, said, “After 5 August, an atmosphere for student union elections has been created in all universities throughout the country, and the same should happen at Islamic University. This is the demand of ordinary students. We are preparing accordingly. However, the constitution includes a provision allowing MPhil students to contest election, whereas we had demanded that only regular undergraduate and postgraduate students should be eligible as candidates and voters.”
He added, “Our demand was that the elected Vice President (VP) and General Secretary (GS) be made members of the syndicate. However, this provision was not included in the constitution. We want student representatives to be added as syndicate members at IU, just like at Dhaka University (DU).”
Mahmudul Hasan, president of the university’s student wing Shibir, said: “The student union is one of the key platforms for realizing students’ rights. We have been telling the IU administration for a long time, and now it has become visible through the syndicate’s approval of the constitution. Our expectation is that once the President approves it, the law will be amended. After being sent to the UGC, the file should not remain pending, and the administration must continue to remain active.”
On preparations for the student union, he remarked: “We will prepare for the student union. However, no official organizational decision has been made yet.”
Ismail Hossain Rahat, president of IU’s Islami Chhatra Andolon, said: “Since the July movement, students and all student organisations have been demanding elections. From that position, Islami Chhatra Andolon has carried out various activities. During the drafting of IKSU’s constitution, we were also present in meetings with the administration alongside other student organizations. But it would have been better if a copy of the draft constitution had been made public for students.
Additionally, before sending the constitution to the UGC, if the election roadmap had been announced, students would have had clarity on everything.”
He also said, “We had objections to certain aspects of the constitution, which we informed the administration about. One of the main issues was the inclusion of student representatives as syndicate members. Otherwise, the student union will turn into an inactive body. However, everyone wants the election to be held in the first week of December and for student leadership to be practiced with qualified candidates.”
SM Sweet, former coordinator and member of the Anti-Oppression Student Alliance, said: “Through the student union, students will gain a platform to raise their voices and present their demands. At present, a large section of students do not want the traditional patronage-based politics. They are politically aware but do not like conventional politics. With a student union, this patronage-based politics can be left behind, and everyone can practice leadership for the welfare of students.”
