A former coordinator of the Student Movement Against Discrimination, a platform which spearheaded the July uprising ousting the Awami League regime, urged Rajshahi University authorities to allow students whose enrolment expired before August 5 to participate in the coming central students’ union elections.
Mehedi Hasan Munna, also president of the RU unit of Nagorik Chhatra Oikya, made the demand through a press release issued on Saturday.
In a statement Munna explained that RUCSU elections, scheduled for September 15 after more than three decades, as a long-cherished aspiration of the student community.
‘We were deprived of this election in the past, but today’s RUCSU polls are the outcome of our long struggle. During our student life, we risked everything to resist Awami autocracy, campus violence, and Chhatra League terrorism,’ he said.
Munna recalled that facing jail, lawsuits and repression during the July movement, student leaders and activists continued protests that ultimately overthrew Awami League from office, paving the way for the revival of RUCSU.
‘It is a collective achievement of our movement,’ he added.
The statement argued that a ‘moral responsibility’ lay with the university administration to allow those who were students until August 5, 2024, to contest the elections.
Speaking to ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· over phone, Munna rejected the notion that his demand might be deemed as discriminatory.
‘We ourselves were victims of discrimination, as the university delayed announcing the polls until after our studentship expired,’ he said.
Stating that the RUCSU elections were a long raised demand, he said, ‘Even after the uprising we urged the administration to hold the polls quickly.’
Instead, they waited until their studentship expired, sidelining senior and influential leaders from the process, he alleged.
‘If we are not allowed to participate, the elections cannot be called inclusive,’ he stated.
