Dhaka University Central Student Union Elections
Democratic Politics Fails to Harness Youth Power for Real Change
(Translated)
News:
Students from Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, and Rajshahi universities were strongly looking forward to positive political changes and firm guarantees to protect students' interests following the overdue elections of their central student unions in September. Many of these students explicitly expressed their desire to end exploitative traditions in university politics and urged incoming representatives to work to protect students' rights. They stressed that elected student leaders should be the voice of all students, ensuring a student-friendly environment within the campus, especially in the wake of the political transformation in July 2024 achieved through a student uprising that overthrew the Awami League regime on August 5 of that year (quoted from New Age newspaper, August 23, 2025).
Comment:
Dhaka University has always been at the forefront of movements in Bangladesh, from the Language Movement of 1952 to the recent uprising against the Sheikh Hasina regime. The university has left a historical legacy in shaping the country's political landscape, so the fate of the Dhaka University Central Student Union is greater than just student elections, but rather a matter of political weight at the national level. The Council, as the supreme student body at the country's most prestigious public university, has always been a focal point for major national movements and a training ground for future leaders. Likewise, students from other public universities have always been at the forefront of major progressive turning points in Bengali politics. Indeed, in the July 2024 uprising, we witnessed active and conscious participation from private university students, who played an effective catalyst role in regime change.
However, despite all the optimism about the potential of youth, history shows that student movements in Bangladesh have never been able to bring about real change. Students' sacrifices have been repeatedly exploited by political parties entrenched in the corrupt democratic system. The democratic system is theoretically supposed to reflect the will of the people, but in practice it has perpetuated capitalism that serves the political elite, a few capitalists, and Western colonialists.
Even the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina, which is a landmark in the history of student politics, reveals this fact. The aspirations and sacrifices of youth have once again been wasted at the hands of the bearers of this corrupt democratic system. Despite the fall of the regime, the underlying structure - secular capitalism - remains in place, maintained by Western-backed rulers and a number of greedy capitalists. Students - especially at Dhaka University - no matter how passionate, are forced to operate outside the real centers of power, which remain dominated by the patronage of neo-colonialists, especially the United States.
The painful truth is that the existing political framework in Bangladesh prevents young people from thinking and acting outside the narrow confines of democracy. What is needed is not another round of false hopes, but a radical transformation of the model; a policy that harnesses the tremendous energies of youth in constructive action for real change. This change lies in replacing the supreme divine system that God Almighty has revealed, which is the Rightly Guided Khilafah according to the Prophetic method, with the corrupt democratic facade that is marketed under the slogans of freedom, humanity and freedom of thought, and only when the youth of Bangladesh direct themselves towards this vision, will their sacrifices yield real change, guaranteeing the building of a brighter and more prosperous tomorrow for their people.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
Irtiza Choudhury - Wilayah Bangladesh
