Cyber-bullying and smear campaigns targeting candidates, particularly females, have emerged as a disturbing trend in the run-up to the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union elections, raising concerns about inclusivity and the safety of female participants in campus politics.
Candidates from Bangladesh Ganotantrik Chhatra Sangsad, Bangladesh Chhatra Union, and Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir alleged that they were facing orchestrated online harassment and defamatory campaigns.
JU unit of Bangladesh Chhatra Union president Adri Angkur said that incidents of cyber-bullying were occurring due to the culture of impunity on the campus.
He observed that aggression against dissenting voices on social media had intensified after the 2024 mass uprising.
‘Numerous Facebook IDs and pages, using the university’s name, are continuously spreading propaganda. This is not the democratic environment we expected after such a historic movement’, he added.
Farhana Binte Jigar Farina, the secretary of the anti-sexual harassment cell of the Ganotantrik Chhatra Sangsad, said that such bullying was inflicting severe mental and social distress, particularly on female candidates.
She added that her organisation had decided to work with the university administration to curb harassment during the campaign.
Philosophy student Ayesha Siddiqua Meghla, contesting for the post of assistant general secretary from the Islami Chhatra Shibir’s panel ‘Somonnito Shikkharthi Jote’ panel, said that she was facing a wave of abuse online since the announcement of her candidacy.
She alleged that she was being wrongly branded as a member of ‘Islami Chhatri Sangstha’ and subjected to derogatory remarks through fake social media accounts, pages, and comment threads.
‘Though I am not connected with any political groups, some are trying to misrepresent me as a conservative activist’, she said, citing her career as a campus journalist.
Shibir is the male student organisation of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, while Bangladesh Islami Chhatri Sangstha is Jamaat’s female student organisation.
The Chhatra Shibir’s panel, Somonnito Shikkharthi Jote, on Monday submitted a memorandum to the JUCSU Election Commission, demanding effective measures against derogatory comments and cyber-bullying targeting female candidates on social media.
The panel’s vice-president candidate Arifullah Adib said that the climate of intolerance and smear tactics may further discourage women from contesting the leadership positions.
‘We want that the commission will take immediate action over the issue’, he said.
Member secretary of the JUCSU election commission and university proctor AKM Rashidul Alam said that the administration would take strict action under the university’s disciplinary regulations if any formal complaints were filed.
The JUCSU election, scheduled for September 11, 2025, marks the first in 33 years.
The last JUCSU elections were held in 1992.
