Rajshahi Correspondent:

Leaders and activists of the Rajshahi University unit of the Chhatra Dal have locked and vandalised the treasurer’s office, demanding that first-year students be granted voting rights in the Rajshahi University Central Student Union (RUCSU) elections.

Around 9:30am on Sunday, the group, led by Sultan Ahmed Rahi – president of the university’s Chhatra Dal unit, surrounded the office.

An hour later, they entered the room and vandalised tables and chairs used for collecting nomination papers.

Treasurer Setaur Rahman said he had been unable to enter his office since the morning.

“They have surrounded the office since this morning, and now they have locked it again. I cannot enter,” he said.

“There are several ways to make demands. This cannot be one of them.”

Rahi, the Chhatra Dal president, said the administration had refused their demands from the start.

“We have said from the beginning that first-year students should be given voting rights. The administration did not accept it. So, today we have surrounded the treasurer’s office,” he said.

“The movement will continue until our demands are met.”

Several other Chhatra Dal leaders, including Organising Secretary Mahmudul Mithu, Bijoy-24 Hall president Gazi Ferdous Hasan, Vice President Ahsan Habib and Joint General Secretary Hasib Hasan, joined the protest.

About a hundred activists remained in front of the office throughout on Sunday morning. The demonstration was ongoing as of the filing of this report.

The central committee of the University Teachers Association of Bangladesh and some teachers of the Rajshahi University branch also expressed solidarity with the programme.

Attempts to reach the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Mayeen Uddin and Proctor Mahbubur Rahman, were unsuccessful.

The commission announced the election schedule on Jul 28.

Under the revised timetable, the fourth such change, Sunday was the last day to distribute nomination papers, which are collected from the treasurer’s office.

According to the schedule, nomination papers will be submitted from Sept 1 to 4, scrutinised on Sept 6 and 7, and a preliminary list of candidates will be published on Sept 8.

Objections will be heard and disposed of on Sept 9, with candidates allowed to withdraw their papers on Sept 10.The final list will be published on Sept 11.

Voting will be held in all academic buildings on Sept 25, from 9am to 4pm, with results expected the same day.