Campus Countdown: SUCSU Polls Likely on 9 or 10 December

The Vice-Chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Professor A. M. Sarwar Uddin Chowdhury, has announced that the long-awaited Central Students’ Union (SUCSU) election will be held on 9 or 10 December. The announcement came early Friday after students staged a sit-in for nearly five hours on Thursday night, demanding that the election date be declared.

Students began their sit-in at around 8:30 pm and continued until approximately 1:15 am. They suspended the programme after the Vice-Chancellor arrived on-site and assured them of a prompt announcement.

According to the protesting students, the university authorities had scheduled a press conference on Thursday evening to announce the election date. However, moments before it was due to begin, the press conference was postponed citing unavoidable circumstances. Students alleged that this was an attempt to derail the SUCSU election and locked the administrative building in protest. They later began the sit-in in front of the building at 8:30 pm.

Leaders and activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir, Chhatra Andolon, Chhatra Majlish and the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement also joined the programme.

The students said they continued their sit-in until nearly 1:00 am. Around 11:00 pm, the university’s Treasurer Ismail Hossain and Proctor Mokhlesur Rahman arrived and attempted to reassure the protesters, but the students rejected their assurances. Finally, at around 12:45 am, the Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Sajedul Karim arrived, engaged in discussion with the students, and conveyed the authorities’ decision.

At that time, the Vice-Chancellor stated, “The date of the election will be announced after Friday evening.” He added, “The SUCSU election will be held on 9 or 10 December. We will conduct this election in a festive atmosphere.” Upon receiving this assurance, the students ended their sit-in and reopened the administrative building.

When asked why the scheduled press conference had been postponed, the Vice-Chancellor explained, “One responsible individual had a meeting, and another was at a medical centre. So we thought it best to hold it on Friday. It was a misunderstanding. The discussion now is about 9 or 10 December. The election will be held on one of these two dates.”

Palash Bakhtiar, convenor of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement at SUST, said, “The administration keeps promising elections but has yet to announce a date. They were supposed to announce it on Thursday. Postponing the press conference is part of a conspiracy to cancel SUCSU. We had demanded that the election be held before the 8th. For now, we are withdrawing based on the Vice-Chancellor’s assurance; but if there is further delay, we will announce tougher programmes.”

Dbtech/DS/Mim/OR