JCD Activists Vandalise RUCSU Office over Freshers’ Voting Rights

Rajshahi University’s central student union (RUCSU) office was vandalised on Sunday as activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) staged a sit-in demanding the inclusion of first-year students in the voter list for the upcoming election.

The demonstration began around 9:30 am inside the RUCSU treasurer’s office, where activists were seen vandalising chairs and tables. As a result, the election commission could not begin distributing nomination papers on what was scheduled to be the final day.

Chanting slogans such as “We paid RUCSU fees, we want to be voters” and “First-year students must get voting rights,” Chhatra Dal activists kept the office besieged for hours.

Speaking to reporters, branch general secretary of JCD Sardar Jahurul Islam said, “We have long been demanding voting rights for first-year students. They pay the same RUCSU fees as others but are deprived of their franchise. We will continue our programme until this discrimination is removed.”

Expressing solidarity, Jahangir Hossain, chairman of the Folklore Department and general secretary of University Teachers’ Association of Bangladesh (UTAB), RU unit, said, “Neither first-year students nor anti-autocracy movement leaders were included in the voter list. Chhatra Dal is protesting this exclusion, and we stand with their demand.”

Notably, Sunday was the last day for nomination paper distribution for the upcoming RUCSU elections, scheduled to be held on September 25.

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