The University Teachers' Network, a platform for private and public university teachers, has called for an impartial investigation into allegations of widespread irregularities surrounding the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) election.

In a media statement issued on Monday, the platform stated that while the election — the first in 33 years — had generated significant student interest, the process itself was flawed and controversial from the very beginning.

The statement said, "All attention was focused on ensuring the victory of one party in the JUCSU election by any means. We reject this election and believe that it is essential to uncover these manipulations through a fair investigation."

“The mismanagement of the process even cost a young teacher her life,” the group said, referring to Jannatul Ferdous, an assistant professor who died during the protracted vote-counting process. The first issue they raised was “the flawed voter list” and “defective ballots”.

The second issue was the cancellation of vice-president candidate Amartya Roy’s candidacy four days before the election by categorising him as an irregular student. By that time the final list of candidates was announced and the deadline had passed.

“Although the higher court suspended the decision against Amartya, the university appealed in the chamber court. Citing the argument that the ballot papers had already been printed, the chamber court suspended the higher court's decision on 9 September. The administration could have accepted the higher court's ruling and reinstated Amartya's candidacy, but they chose not to. To us, the administration's behaviour and the entire process of cancelling a candidate's candidacy seem like a biased conspiracy on the part of the administration,” said the organisation.

However, asked about the relevance of conducting candidates’ drug tests on 9 September – by which date the ballot papers had reportedly been printed – the authorities said that they had not been printed. “Such contradictory statements undermine the credibility of the Election Commission,” said the teachers’ network.

Moreover, ballot boxes were sent to the halls the night before the election, while there should have been no problem sending them to the campus on the morning of the Election Day.

In addition to that, the provision for allowing polling agents for the candidates was overturned around 2:30am on the night before the JUCSU election, creating a major disparity among the candidates.

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