DUCSU takeover: How Shibir pulled it off and what it means for national politics

The 2025 Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election delivered a stunning upset, as Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, swept to power against all expectations. Long criticised over issues of the Liberation War, accused of muscle power politics in the 1980s and 1990s, and known as a religion-driven organisation often avoided in public discourse, Shibir has, against the odds, gained the trust of DU students. After the July Uprising, Shibir re-emerged on the campus politics with a carefully crafted strategy. According to students, faculty, former DUCSU vice-presidents and general secretaries, and political analysts, Shibir presented an inclusive front by involving students outside overtly political profiles, appealing to a broader base. Their engagement with students in dormitories, combined...