After 44 Years, Chhatra Shibir Returns to Lead CUCSU

After a long gap of 44 years, Islami Chhatra Shibir has made a dramatic return to leadership in the Chattogram University Central Students' Union (CUCSU) election. The Shibir-backed panel, "Sompriti’r Shikkharthi Jote" , secured victory in 24 out of 26 posts, including the key positions of Vice President (VP) and General Secretary (GS).

The last time Chhatra Shibir won the CUCSU election was in 1981, when Jasim Uddin Sarkar was elected VP and Abdul Gaffar became GS. In the following 1990 election, Shibir was defeated by the "All-party Student Unity" panel. Later, in 2014, during the Awami League government's tenure, Shibir was banned from campus politics, leading to years of inactivity. The group re-emerged in campus politics in August 2024.

In the 2025 CUCSU election, held after more than three decades, Shibir made a strong comeback. The announcement of results on Thursday (October 16) at 4:30 AM by Chief Election Commissioner Prof. Monir Uddin confirmed their sweeping victory.

• Vice President (VP): Md. Ibrahim Hossain, an MPhil student from the History department and president of Shibir’s Chattogram South City unit, won with 7,983 votes. His closest rival, Sazzad Hossain of Chhatra Dal, received 4,374 votes.

• General Secretary (GS): Saeed Bin Habib, a postgraduate student in History and Shibir’s university unit literary secretary, secured 8,031 votes, defeating Chhatra Dal’s Md. Shafayat, who got 2,734 votes.

The only post not won by the Shibir-backed panel was Assistant General Secretary (AGS), where Chhatra Dal's Ayubur Rahman won with 7,014 votes, beating Shibir candidate Sazzad Hossain who received 5,045 votes. Additionally, Tamanna Mahbub, an independent female candidate, won the position of Assistant Sports and Games Secretary.

The Chief Election Commissioner stated that the election was held in a peaceful and festive atmosphere with high participation from both candidates and voters.

Since its inception, CUCSU has only seen seven elections—held in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1990, and now in 2025. The union remained inactive for 35 years due to various political and administrative reasons. The 2025 election marks a significant moment in student politics at Chattogram University, as a new generation of students exercised their voting rights to elect a new leadership body.

Shibir’s resounding success has sparked widespread discussions across campus and beyond, signaling a major shift in student political dynamics.