Students of Islamic University in Kushtia in a call on Tuesday renewed their demand for student unions at the institution, insisting on the inclusion of only regular students in the electoral process.
A group of students from different departments on the day submitted to vice-chancellor Professor Nakib Muhammad Nasrullah a memorandum, containing a seven-point proposal for instituting the Islamic University Central Student Union elections.
According to the proposal, non-students along with MPhil and PhD researchers are to be excluded from the election; those students who have their master鈥檚 results published are to be disqualified; strict verification of registration and admission records are to be carried out; dope tests for all candidates are to be made mandatory; those having links with outsiders will be declared disqualified; and anyone tied to the Awami League or its affiliates; or involved in anti-July uprising activities will also be disqualified.
The students who submitted the proposal said that such measures were essential to ensure authentic student leadership, pointing out that the past involvement of outsiders and long-term researchers had undermined student politics and the university鈥檚 image.
鈥楾he student union should remain a platform for regular students only,鈥� they said.
The vice-chancellor said that the draft constitution had already been prepared, giving priority to regular students.
鈥業t will be placed before the academic council tomorrow [Wednesday] and later forwarded to the UGC [University Grants Commission] through an emergency syndicate,鈥� he added.
On August 27, the university authorities formed an 11-member committee to draft the constitution of the university, but general students maintain that the draft must clearly restrict the union to regular students.
Several groups have already come together under the banner of the IUCSU Formation Movement Committee and are campaigning for immediate polls, following the examples of Dhaka University Central Students鈥� Union and Jahangirnagar University Central Students鈥� Union.