1981: Shibir’s landslide victory; who won how many posts in 1990 CUCSU polls?

The Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) elections have been held six times. Just three years after its founding in 1977, Islami Chhatra Shibir made headlines with a landslide victory in 1981. However, in the last election in 1990, Shibir failed to secure a single post, while Chhatra Dal won seven posts, including assistant general secretary (AGS) and hospitality secretary.

Sources indicate that the 5th CUCSU election was held on March 19, 1981, with nearly all active student organisations participating. Shibir achieved a sweeping victory. Jashim Uddin Sarker, then a Shibir leader and master’s student in political science, was elected vice-president (VP). He is currently a central working council member of Jamaat-e-Islami and its nominated parliamentary candidate for Dhaka-10. Mohammad Abdul Gaffar won the general secretary (GS) post, and Mohiuddin Mohammad Faruk secured the AGS post.

Out of CUCSU’s 27 posts, 17 were secretarial. Shibir’s ‘Jashim-Gaffar Parishad’ won 14 of them and eight of the 10 member posts. Chhatra League (Kader-Chunnu) secured five posts, including three secretarial ones.

From Shibir’s panel, winners included assistant sports secretary Md. Ashraf Hossain, literature secretary Mizanul Karim, assistant literature secretary Fariduddin, entertainment secretary Dabiruddin Chowdhury, assistant entertainment secretary Amirul Islam, common room secretary Md. Faruk, assistant women’s common room secretary Dilruba Akhtar, assistant magazine secretary Abu Taher Golam Mawla, social welfare secretary Md. Humayun Kabir, and assistant social welfare secretary Purnendu Kumar Roy.

From Chhatra League’s (Kader-Chunnu) panel, winners were sports secretary Nazibul Islam Khan, assistant common room secretary Samir Kanti Das, and women’s common room secretary Shirin Afroz.

1990: All-Party Students’ Unity triumphs

Amid anti-Ershad movements, the 6th CUCSU election saw an anti-government alliance, ‘All-Party Students’ Unity,’ excluding Shibir, win the full panel. They also secured five of the six residential hall elections, while Shibir won only F Rahman Hall’s full panel.

Archives show the last CUCSU election was held on February 8, 1990. Voting ran from 8:00am to 3:30pm, with results delayed until Friday evening. Of 10,526 votes, 73 percent (about 8,000) were cast. For 27 CUCSU posts, 158 candidates competed, and 436 vied for 72 hall posts.

The ‘Nazim-Azim Parishad’ of the 12-party All-Party Students’ Unity and Shibir’s ‘Hamid-Mansur Parishad’ participated. The alliance included Chhatra League (Habibur Rahman-Asim Kumar), Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Chhatra Union, Chhatra League (Abdus Sattar-Mosharraf Hossain), Chhatra League (Nazmul Haque-Shafi Ahmed), Chhatra League (Bazlul Rashid-Azam), Jatiya Chhatra League, Socialist Chhatra Front, Chhatra Maitri, Aikya Samity, Chhatra Federation, and Democratic Chhatra Union. The Nazmul Haque-Shafi Ahmed faction of Chhatra League supported JSD.

Mohammad Nazimuddin (Jatiya Chhatra League) won VP with 4,831 votes, defeating Shibir’s Hamid Hossain (2,774 votes). Azimuddin Ahmed (Socialist Chhatra Front) won GS with 4,963 votes, against Shibir’s Mansur Ahmad (2,625 votes). Mahbuber Rahman, then a Chhatra Dal leader and now BNP’s Chittagong divisional organising secretary, won AGS with 4,991 votes, defeating Shibir’s Hamidur Rahman (2,620 votes).

Other winners included sports secretary Md. Ferdaus Bashir (Chhatra League Ha-A), assistant sports secretary Md. Mohiuddin (Chhatra League Na-Sh), literature secretary Kazi Nazrul Islam (Chhatra League Ha-A), assistant literature secretary Mohiuddin Ahmed Chowdhury (Chhatra League Ha-A), hospitality secretary Md. Mamunur Rashid (Chhatra Dal), assistant hospitality secretary Shahid Bin Hossain (Chhatra League Ha-A), auditorium secretary Moinul Ahsan (Chhatra Dal), assistant auditorium secretary Alamgir Hossain, women’s auditorium secretary Kaniz Fatema (Chhatra League Ha-A), assistant women’s auditorium secretary Jamila Akhtar (Chhatra League Ha-A), annual secretary Sudipta Deb (Chhatra League Ha-A), assistant annual secretary Md. Shahabuddin (Chhatra League Ha-A), social service secretary Salahuddin Mohammad Reza (Chhatra Dal), and assistant social service secretary Sardar Md. Jobayer (Chhatra Aikya Samity).

The 10 member posts went to A Ha Rezaul Karim (Chhatra League Sa-Mo), Kazi Jahir Uddin (Chhatra Union), Kazi Md. Tauhidul Islam (Chhatra Aikya Samity), Md. Kalim (Chhatra League Ha-A), Md. Hossain Shahid Mufti (Chhatra League Ha-A), Md. Shahjahan (Na-Sh), Md. Tarikul Islam (Chhatra League Ba-A), Sheikh Abdul Hakim (Chhatra Federation), Abul Hossain (Democratic Chhatra Union), and Mominul Haque.

Shibir alleged coercion, vote rigging, and bias in the 1990 election.