Thursday, 04 September, 2025
When Dhaka University last held a full Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election in June 1990, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) stunned the political establishment with a clean sweep, riding the crest of a nationwide movement that ultimately toppled military ruler HM Ershad.
More than three decades later, echoes of that moment have returned — but under dramatically different circumstances.
In the aftermath of the July Uprising that forced Sheikh Hasina from power, JCD is once again attempting to capture the spirit of student activism. Yet whether it can replicate the landslide of 1990 remains uncertain, given its weakened organisational roots on campus and in the halls.
From 1990 to 2025
In 1990, JCD’s victory was total: it won all 20 central posts and swept panels across nine halls, with its VP candidate Amanullah Aman, GS Khairul Kabir Khokon, and AGS Nazimuddin Alam later rising to senior posts within the BNP. Their triumph was widely seen as a harbinger of Ershad’s downfall six months later.
That election, held amid the anti-Ershad agitation, was described as one of the most competitive in DU history. Chhatra League and a nine-party left alliance contested strongly, but JCD emerged as the undisputed winner.
Today’s context is different. The July Uprising has already changed Bangladesh’s political order, creating a vacuum after the fall of the Awami League and its student wing, the Chhatra League. Unlike in 1990, the election is taking place after, not before, an uprising.
JCD, which had long been absent from campus politics under Chhatra League’s dominance, regained visibility during the July movement. Its activists were on the frontlines, and many of its younger leaders emerged from the protests with credibility.
Reflecting that shift, the party sidelined older leaders and nominated comparatively younger candidates for DUCSU posts, many of whom are “regular students” and hall activists.
Its VP candidate is Abidul Islam Khan, joint general secretary of the DU unit and an MPhil student in Islamic Studies. GS hopeful Sheikh Tanvir Bari Hamim, from the 2018–19 batch in Women and Gender Studies, is convener of Jasimuddin Hall committee, while AGS contender Tanvir Al Hadi Mayed is convener of Bijoy Ekattor Hall from the Mass Communication and Journalism department.
Former AGS Nazimuddin Alam sees parallels between then and now.
“The wave we saw in 1990 is here again. Our candidates Abidul, Hamim, and Mayed fought bravely in July–August without compromise. Abid has been tortured, injured, and oppressed, but never gave up,” he said.
Nazimuddin admitted that other groups also played key roles in the anti-Hasina protests but argued that JCD’s contribution was the most significant as “the largest student organisation in the country.”
This time, JCD faces a very different line-up of rivals. With the Chhatra League and other groups of the old Chhatra Sangram Parishad banned following the Awami League’s fall, the main challenge comes from Islami Chhatra Shibir, which finished fifth in 1990, as well as three left-leaning alliances.
The newly formed Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangshad (BGCS), born out of the July movement, has also entered the race, alongside an independent alliance led by Umama Fatema, a prominent figure in the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.
For many students, JCD’s decision to field comparatively younger, “regular” candidates marks an encouraging break from the past.
“When people heard ‘Chhatra Dal’, they used to joke ‘Chacha Dal’ — the uncles’ party. That’s changing now,” said Shahriar Alam, a Sociology student. “If they can read the students’ mood and avoid old-style politics, they’ll do well.”
Still, concerns remain over whether the return of JCD could revive the notorious “mass-room” and “guest-room” culture that plagued campus life in the 1990s and 2000s.
Resident student Mudassir Rahman warned: “If they keep up this positive tone, Chhatra Dal’s politics can become student-friendly. But if they slip back into the old ‘beat-them-up’ style, guest-rooms will return.”
DUCSU, often described as the “mini-parliament” of students, has historically been a launchpad for national leadership. JCD leaders argue that, just as in 1990, today’s election could be a bellwether for Bangladesh’s wider political future.
VP hopeful Abidul Islam struck an ambitious note:
“I don’t want a repeat of 1990. This time will be even bigger — a repeat of 2024. The response on the ground has been unprecedented.”
Whether that optimism translates into another historic landslide remains to be seen. But for the first time in decades, DUCSU is again at the centre of Bangladesh’s political imagination — and Chhatra Dal believes the July wave may yet carry it to victory.
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When Dhaka University last held a full Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election in June 1990, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) stunned the political establishment with a clean sweep, riding the crest of a nationwide movement that ultimately toppled military ruler HM Ershad.
More than three decades later, echoes of that moment have returned — but under dramatically different circumstances.
In the aftermath of the July Uprising that forced Sheikh Hasina from power, JCD is once again attempting to capture the spirit of student activism. Yet whether it can replicate the landslide of 1990 remains uncertain, given its weakened organisational roots on campus and in the halls.
From 1990 to 2025
In 1990, JCD’s victory was total: it won all 20 central posts and swept panels across nine halls, with its VP candidate Amanullah Aman, GS Khairul Kabir Khokon, and AGS Nazimuddin Alam later rising to senior posts within the BNP. Their triumph was widely seen as a harbinger of Ershad’s downfall six months later.
That election, held amid the anti-Ershad agitation, was described as one of the most competitive in DU history. Chhatra League and a nine-party left alliance contested strongly, but JCD emerged as the undisputed winner.
Today’s context is different. The July Uprising has already changed Bangladesh’s political order, creating a vacuum after the fall of the Awami League and its student wing, the Chhatra League. Unlike in 1990, the election is taking place after, not before, an uprising.
JCD, which had long been absent from campus politics under Chhatra League’s dominance, regained visibility during the July movement. Its activists were on the frontlines, and many of its younger leaders emerged from the protests with credibility.
Reflecting that shift, the party sidelined older leaders and nominated comparatively younger candidates for DUCSU posts, many of whom are “regular students” and hall activists.
Its VP candidate is Abidul Islam Khan, joint general secretary of the DU unit and an MPhil student in Islamic Studies. GS hopeful Sheikh Tanvir Bari Hamim, from the 2018–19 batch in Women and Gender Studies, is convener of Jasimuddin Hall committee, while AGS contender Tanvir Al Hadi Mayed is convener of Bijoy Ekattor Hall from the Mass Communication and Journalism department.
Former AGS Nazimuddin Alam sees parallels between then and now.
“The wave we saw in 1990 is here again. Our candidates Abidul, Hamim, and Mayed fought bravely in July–August without compromise. Abid has been tortured, injured, and oppressed, but never gave up,” he said.
Nazimuddin admitted that other groups also played key roles in the anti-Hasina protests but argued that JCD’s contribution was the most significant as “the largest student organisation in the country.”
This time, JCD faces a very different line-up of rivals. With the Chhatra League and other groups of the old Chhatra Sangram Parishad banned following the Awami League’s fall, the main challenge comes from Islami Chhatra Shibir, which finished fifth in 1990, as well as three left-leaning alliances.
The newly formed Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangshad (BGCS), born out of the July movement, has also entered the race, alongside an independent alliance led by Umama Fatema, a prominent figure in the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.
For many students, JCD’s decision to field comparatively younger, “regular” candidates marks an encouraging break from the past.
“When people heard ‘Chhatra Dal’, they used to joke ‘Chacha Dal’ — the uncles’ party. That’s changing now,” said Shahriar Alam, a Sociology student. “If they can read the students’ mood and avoid old-style politics, they’ll do well.”
Still, concerns remain over whether the return of JCD could revive the notorious “mass-room” and “guest-room” culture that plagued campus life in the 1990s and 2000s.
Resident student Mudassir Rahman warned: “If they keep up this positive tone, Chhatra Dal’s politics can become student-friendly. But if they slip back into the old ‘beat-them-up’ style, guest-rooms will return.”
DUCSU, often described as the “mini-parliament” of students, has historically been a launchpad for national leadership. JCD leaders argue that, just as in 1990, today’s election could be a bellwether for Bangladesh’s wider political future.
VP hopeful Abidul Islam struck an ambitious note:
“I don’t want a repeat of 1990. This time will be even bigger — a repeat of 2024. The response on the ground has been unprecedented.”
Whether that optimism translates into another historic landslide remains to be seen. But for the first time in decades, DUCSU is again at the centre of Bangladesh’s political imagination — and Chhatra Dal believes the July wave may yet carry it to victory.
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