Dhaka, Oct 15 Indelible ink woes were exposed during Bangladesh's Chittagong University's Central Students' Union (CUCSU) on Wednesday as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) lashed out at the authorities over the ink unavailability ahead of the union elections, terming it a reflection of "national incompetence."
CEC Monir Uddin made the scathing remarks during a briefing after candidates backed by Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, and Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), alleged that the ink being used to mark voters' fingers was easily removable.
"We searched everywhere, from Chawkbazar in Chattogram to Dhaka. We even went to the Election Commission office but couldn't find any permanent ink,' leading Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star, quoted Monir as saying.
"The Election Commission informed us that the ink is imported from Germany before every national election. For security reasons, any leftover ink is destroyed afterwards and not stored. So, it's impossible to find it elsewhere," he added.
Admitting that the commission was unable to procure suitable ink, Monir said, "We couldn't find a better ink -- in fact, we couldn't find it at all. But using ink is not mandatory."
He also mentioned that other universities, including Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University, had faced similar difficulties during their student union elections.
The CEC acknowledged reports that 12 ballot papers had been issued without signatures at the IT Faculty.
"We've heard about it and discussed it. It happened unintentionally on the part of polling officials. This is our first election in many years. Those ballots will be separated after opening the boxes, and verification will be carried out during counting," he said.
However, Shibir-backed vice president candidate Sazzad Hossain Hridoy accused the commission of "lying" about the ink issue.
"They told us the same thing before the election. The commission has lost credibility among everyone. The university authorities and the commission are conspiring to favour a certain panel in the CUCSU election," he stated.
These latest developments come amid mounting concerns over voting irregularities in students' union elections held at universities across the country.
Last month, several student leaders rejected the results of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) election, calling them a "planned fraud", as the Shibir-backed candidates won key posts.
Similarly, the Chhatra Dal announced a boycott of the Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU) election held last month, citing voting irregularities and other concerns.
These student leaders earlier collaborated with Muhammad Yunus and several political outfits to overthrow the democratically elected Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
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