Dhaka: Concerns have grown in India after the Jamaat-e-Islami swept the Dhaka University’s students’ union elections in Bangladesh. The results of the elections were declared on Wednesday. This was the first such victory for an Islamist student group since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
The Jamaat-backed Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) won nine of the 12 Dhaka University Central Students Union (DUCSU) posts, elections for which were held on Tuesday.
What has added to India’s concerns is the reaction from Pakistan. The local media in Dhaka reported that Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has congratulated ICS on winning the DUCSU elections, asserting that “new history” has been made in Bangladesh.
The results have also come as a shock for former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). It rejected the results, alleging “planned manipulation” and termed the polls a “farce”. The ICS won the top posts by huge margins against the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the BNP’s students’ wing.
“We assumed the results of the planned manipulation from Tuesday afternoon. Put the numbers as you like. We have rejected the farce,” JCD’s vice-president candidate Mohammad Abidul Islam wrote on Facebook.
University authorities, on Wednesday, declared ICS candidate Sadik Qayem as vice-president and S M Farhad as general secretary of DUCSU. The university’s vice-chancellor is the de-facto president.
The margins are of great concern. Qayem polled 10,442 votes against 5,708 secured by the JCD candidate, while Farhad secured the GS’s post with 10,794 votes, defeating JCD’s Tanvir Bari, who managed only 5,283 votes.
“This is certainly a matter of concern with general elections in Bangladesh slated to be held in 2026. This is not only a matter of concern for India, but the secular minded people in Bangladesh. Even the students who led the coup against Sk Hasina in July 2024 lost to the ICS,” an official in New Delhi said.
The Students Against Discrimination (SAD), which spearheaded the movement against Hasina’s Awami League government and paved the way for Muhammad Yunus’ interim administration, failed to make an impact due to internal splits.
SAD candidate Abdul Qauder accused the university of bias, alleging ICS “manipulated the results from inside the polling centres”, while JCD worked from “outside”.
SAD’s former spokesperson, Umama Fatema, who quit the group citing corruption among its leaders, also boycotted the polls after contesting under the “Independent Students Panel”.
She announced her withdrawal from the race in a predawn Facebook post, saying, “Boycott! Boycott! Abandoning DUCSU.”
However, chief returning officer Prof Mohammad Jasim Uddin described the polls as a “model”, saying, “We promised to deliver, and we have kept that promise. Whenever the nation falls into crisis, Dhaka University leads the way,” he said.
National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Hasnat Abdullah said the results would shape Bangladesh’s political future, urging all parties to respect the outcome. The National Citizen Party (NCP) – an offshoot of the SAD – is known to be a Yunus backer.
The interim government in Bangladesh has disbanded Awami League’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), branding it a “terrorist organisation”.
This result is being considered by many as a wake-up call for the BNP that believed it would call the shots in the Awami League’s absence. This resurgence of the Islamists will certainly have an impact on the general elections, many believe.