Student safety now the priority, not DUCSU: DU pro vice-chancellor

Professor Dr. Saima Haque Bidisha, pro vice-chancellor (administration) of University of Dhaka, said, “Considering the current situation, we are prioritizing student safety over the activities of the student union (DUCSU) at this moment.”

She made the statement on Monday evening (May 19) while speaking to Views Bangladesh.

Addressing the recent murder of Samya, a Dhaka University student and Chhatra Dal leader, and the growing discussions around the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) elections, she said, “The university administration is deeply saddened by Samya’s murder.”

“We are putting pressure on Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) from the university administration to arrest those responsible for Samya’s murder. We hope to see results very soon,” she added.

Dr. Bidisha informed that a special meeting was held earlier in the day, where the security of students—particularly those residing in Sufia Kamal Hall, Bangladesh-Kuwait Friendship Hall, and Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall—was extensively discussed. Separate safety measures for these dormitories are under consideration.

When asked whether the DUCSU election process might be derailed due to Samya’s murder, she responded, “DUCSU is certainly a priority for us. We had already made significant preparations. A meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, the day after Samya's murder, to discuss the DUCSU constitution and the formation of the election commission. But that meeting had to be postponed.”

She added, “We had a clear plan regarding the DUCSU constitution and election commission, and we were moving forward accordingly. However, that process is now temporarily delayed due to recent developments.”

In response to why the election commission has not yet been formed, she explained, “During our last advisory meeting, several issues came up. A meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, but the murder occurred on Tuesday night, and we couldn’t proceed. Forming an election commission isn’t as easy as it seems from the outside. The commissioner needs to be a person of considerable experience. We can’t just appoint a lecturer. The individual must be acceptable to all political parties and ideologies.”

Sources indicate that several of the proposed candidates for the election commissioner role are currently abroad.

Regarding the DUCSU committees, the pro vice-chancellor said, “Three committees have been formed. These are: a six-member advisory committee (headed by the Pro VC Administration), a seven-member code of conduct committee (headed by the Pro VC Education), and a constitution amendment committee (headed by the Dean of the Faculty of Law). We had completed the first phase of work with these committees and were transitioning to the second phase when this unfortunate incident occurred.”