In Bangladesh’s altered political landscape since the July Uprising, campus politics at Dhaka University has taken on a new shape.

At the centre of it stands Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, now operating more openly than at any point in its 48-year history

For decades, Shibir’s activities were curtailed on campus. During the Awami League’s 15 years in power, it was unable to hold political programmes at Bangladesh's premier public university.

Yet, as it emerged after the Uprising, its members quietly infiltrated the ruling Awami League’s student front, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, and embedded themselves in cultural and social organisations. That covert work allowed Shibir to sustain its network.

This year, the organisation has stepped forward under its own name, declaring a full slate of candidates for the upcoming Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election. The race has catapulted Shibir into the political fray.

Analysts say the political balance has shifted: Jamaat’s new influence in government, alongside campus polarisation, has pushed Shibir into a competitive position.

Former leaders recall Shibir’s earlier attempts. One claims it first contested DUCSU in 1979 under the banner “Tahir-Kader Parishad”.

By the late 1980s, it had modest strength. Mujibur Rahman, then a Shibir leader and now a Supreme Court lawyer, said the group contested every DUCSU poll since its 1977 founding.

In 1982, it won a few secretary posts in Mohsin and Salimullah halls. By 1989 and 1990, it ranked third, behind the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s student faction Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and the Chhatra League, securing around 1,200-1,300 votes on average.

Other accounts differ. Mushtuq Husain, general secretary of DUCSU in 1989 from the progressive Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad, remembers Shibir as “invisible during campaigning” and insists it never won major posts. Election records before 2019 are missing, university officials say, leaving claims unverifiable.

Whatever its earlier role, Shibir’s presence is undeniable now. Many of its members, long disguised under other banners, revealed themselves publicly after 2024.

Critics allege it now dominates residential halls once run by the Chhatra League, while embedding itself in debating societies and cultural clubs.

Shibir’s general secretary candidate SM Farhad formerly headed hall debating societies and briefly held Chhatra League membership. He is now the Dhaka University Shibir president. Other candidates held posts in the BNCC Air Wing, student welfare bodies and rights platforms.

The organisation courted controversy in July when it marked the anniversary of the Uprising at TSC with an exhibition that included portraits of Jamaat leaders convicted of war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War.

Outrage from students forced the removal of the images. For many, it was proof that Shibir, despite claiming independence, remains Jamaat’s student arm and inherits its contested legacy.

Student unions on the left demand that Shibir be barred from DUCSU. Citing the charter’s clause that the union must uphold the spirit of the Liberation War, they argue that Shibir, born in 1977 from the banned Islami Chhatra Sangha that opposed independence, has no legitimacy.

“Those who sided with genocide cannot contest in a body meant to embody the Liberation War,” said Masum Rana Joy, a leader of the Students’ Union.

Shibir’s critics also highlight its quiet consolidation. While the administration recently banned hall-based politics after agitation, Shibir has continued organising sports, setting up water filters and hosting communal meals—maintaining influence under neutral labels.

Meghmallar Basu of the Democratic Students’ Alliance accuses the group of replacing the Chhatra League’s control with its own, saying: “Shibir now runs the campus administration.”

Meghmallar, contesting as general secretary candidate from the leftist “Resistance Council” panel, said his bloc boycotted meetings with administrators that included Shibir.

“We demanded environmental councils to curb Shibir’s dominance, but the administration has ignored us,” he said.

Dhaka University’s “Paribesh Parishad”, or environment council, was formed in the early 1990s to ensure coexistence among student organisations and to counter fundamentalist and authoritarian groups on campus. Chaired by the vice-chancellor by default, it included the top two leaders from every active registered student body.

The council was intended to coordinate activities and maintain balance in the absence of an active DUCSU. Its last meeting was held in 2022.

Chhatra Dal has also long demanded that the council be reactivated.

Nahiduzzaman Shipon, general secretary of Chhatra Dal’s Dhaka University unit, told bdnews24.com: “Our position on the Liberation War is uncompromising. You know, in 1990, based on the council’s decision, Shibir and Chatra Samaj were banned. After the Uprising, the Chhatra League has been banned.

“In that case, just as Chhatra League cannot contest, the university administration and other student groups should have reached a consensus decision on Shibir as well. We have been urging the administration to do this since last July.”

But Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed denied the council’s existence altogether.

“We have no records of such a body. If anyone has documents, they can show us. Unless the state bans a group, any student organisation has the right to do politics here,” he said.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned, so we did not allow them. But Shibir or others are not banned -- stopping them is not in our mandate.”

Farhad, president of Dhaka University Shibir, echoed the claim. He said the then-vice chancellor in 2006 had searched extensively and confirmed that no such documents were found.

“This is an attempt at depoliticisation, a fascist approach. Those raising this issue are simply exposing their political bankruptcy,” he said.

“For us, the point is clear: if there are allegations, bring them formally. We will respond legally. If the administration or others want to challenge us, they can go to court and seek a legal ban. But declaring someone banned by themselves -- that has no legal basis.”

Shibir has announced a full 28-member panel for the DUCSU election. Outside its own cadres, it has nominated a few from other platforms. Its vice-president candidate is Abu Sadiq Kayem, a former DU Shibir president, and its current President Farhad is running for general secretary.

In a symbolic move, Shibir nominated Khan Jasim, who lost an eye in the July movement, and a visually impaired student, Raisul Islam. For the Liberation War and democratic movements secretary post, Fatima Tasnim Juma from Inqilab Mancha, a separate activism platform, was nominated.

Asked why someone from outside Shibir was chosen, Mahyuddin Khan, DU Shibir general secretary, said: “She was committed to the post, and she has long been active. That’s why she was given the responsibility.”

The 28-member panel includes only one non-Muslim candidate, Sarva Mitra Chakma.

“This panel, under the name ‘United Students’ Alliance’, is open to everyone. We invited all who were active in the anti-fascist movement. We are not going into a Muslim–non-Muslim debate,” Mahyuddin said.