DUCSU Election: Democratic Politics Fails to Harness Youth Power for Real Change

News:

General students of Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, and Rajshahi University have strongly expected positive political changes and a firm assurance for the welfare of students after the long-due elections to their central students’ unions in September. Many students of these universities firmly said that they wanted an end to the exploitative traditions of campus politics, urging the coming student representatives to work for safeguarding student rights. They stressed that the elected student representatives must become the voice of the general students to ensure a student-friendly environment on the campuses following the July 2024 political changeover achieved through the student-led mass uprising that overthrew the Awami League regime on August 5 that year. (New Age, 23 August 2025).

Comment:

Students of Dhaka University have consistently led various movements in Bangladesh, ranging from the language movement in 1952 to the recent July uprising against tyrannical Hasina regime. Dhaka University has a historical legacy of shaping political dynamics in Bangladesh. Naturally, the outcome of the organization that secures Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) is regarded as politically important on the national stage. Thus, it is natural that DUCSU election is always more than a mere student body election. Being the apex student body of the nation's most prestigious public university, DUCSU has always been the epicenter of any significant political movements in Bangladesh. Its elections are deemed to be a training ground for future leaders. Just like Dhaka University, students of rest of the public universities have also been the vanguard of every major progressive turn in Bangladesh’s politics.

This time, during the July’24 uprising, we witnessed an engaged and politically conscious youth from the private universities as well that acted as the potent catalyst for regime change. But while being optimistic about students’ potential in Bangladesh, we must also understand that no student movement of the past has not been able to bring us ‘real’ change. The political parties of the corrupt democratic system have always exploited the sacrifice of the students. Theoretically, democratic system should reflect the will of the people at large. In reality, democratic system miserably failed because it establishes Capitalism that serves the political elites, a few Capitalists and Western Colonialists. Even if we take the anti-Hasina movement as one of the most successful movements of Bangladesh’s student politics, then we see that youths’ desire for change and their sacrifice have already been wasted in the hands of the bearers of this corrupt democracy. Even after the ousting of Hasina, the core system, secular-capitalism, still exists. West-backed ruling elites and few greedy capitalists still maintain power. Students especially in the Dhaka University, no matter how passionate, are bound to operate outside this system of power. This corrupt system of power operates on the currency of patronage by the neo-imperialists, especially U.S. And, unfortunately, the existing political system of Bangladesh does not allow our youth to think and do activism beyond democratic framework.

So, our youths need the politics of paradigm shift to bring about the real change. They need to replace the corrupt democracy that is hidden behind the facades of 'free thought', 'freedom', 'humanity' with the sublime (divine) system given by Allah (swt) – the Khilafah Rashidah (righteous Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood. Unless and until we channel this immense energy of our youth through constructive political engagement for the Khilafah state, we cannot secure a brighter and prosperous tomorrow for the people of Bangladesh.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Irtiza Chowdhury – Wilayah Bangladesh