The Jagannath University Central Students’ Union (Jnucsu) election has been postponed following the death of former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.
Confirming the matter, syndicate member and Teachers’ Association President and Islamic Studies Professor Md Rais Uddin said, “The election commission will announce a new schedule for the election later. This decision was taken at the syndicate meeting.”
However, students continue to protest the decision. Demonstrators are still staging a movement in front of the vice-chancellor’s office, demanding that the election be held as scheduled.
As of the latest update, the vice-chancellor remains confined inside his office amid the ongoing protest.
Earlier on Tuesday, the campus has turned turbulent amid rumours of the Jnucsu election suspension. The speculation emerged over the death of former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Candidates and students staged a sit-in in front of the vice-chancellor’s building, demanding that the election must not be cancelled under any circumstances.
According to the announced schedule, the election was set to take place on Tuesday. Although voting was supposed to begin at 8:30am, the Jnucsu election has yet to start. After news of Khaleda Zia’s death broke in the morning, the university syndicate convened an emergency meeting.
Following this, news of election suspension began circulating, prompting students and candidates to immediately bring out protest processions. At around 9:20am, they blocked the main gate of the vice-chancellor’s building and staged a sit-in.
During the protest, demonstrators chanted slogans such as “fake, fake,” “Break and crush the black hand of the syndicate,” “Jnucsu is my right,” and “We don’t accept it, we won’t accept it.”
Ivan Tahsib, GS candidate of the left-alliance-backed Maulana Bhashani Brigade panel, said, “The election cannot be postponed under any circumstances. We will secure our election. We do not accept this suspension order, and not a single student will leave the campus without casting their vote.”
A student from the 2017–18 session of the Physics Department said, “Jnucsu is not a political issue. On what basis will they suspend the election? So many voters and candidates have come here – we will not leave without voting. If the election is postponed today, it will never be held.”
One protesting student told TIMES of Bangladesh, “If the suspension had been announced even a day earlier, we would have accepted it. We will not accept this sudden suspension.”
Ashiqur Rahman Akash, a candidate for a member post, told TIMES, “We have struggled and protested a lot for this election. We will not accept it if the election is postponed.”
