Social media smear campaigns, primarily targeting female candidates, have marred the festivity surrounding the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election scheduled for September 9.

Some male candidates also complained about being targeted in similar smear campaigns.

This is not an isolated issue in the DUCSU election; candidates in student council elections at other public universities are facing similar challenges as well. They are being tagged, body-shamed, bullied, and subjected to rumors, offensive remarks, hate speech, and relentless propaganda.

Cyberattacks have also been reported on the candidate’s personal profiles and organizational pages.

“Rivals’ supporters are leading the contemptuous campaign,” said Jeysan Bakul Ria (Jerry), an independent candidate who is vying for the position of Common Room, Reading Room, and Cafeteria Secretary.

Ria recalled social media barrages unleashed on her, endless abusive remarks landing in comment boxes, or defamatory remarks sent as private messages. The abusers left nothing untouched, she explained, dropping comments about her clothes and the length of her hair.

The abusers even called her a leftist because she wore short hair.

“We need to have some respect. We must not let go of our sense of courtesy and decency,” she said.

The harassment, in fact, began as soon as she started sharing her idea of running in the election that has a troubled past. Elections to universities’ students’ councils did not regularly happen because of reasons that always had something to do with lack of tolerance.

Public universities have long failed to foster a democratic atmosphere because of widespread politicization of teachers, officers, employees and spaces meant to be used by students. Ruling parties’ students’ wings dominated university campuses, sparing none from extortion and controlling everything from a makeshift shop to giant dormitories.

But the situation changed almost overnight last year when students led an uprising, kicking out the immediate past regime of the Awami League. Universities wore a festive look soon after dates of students' councils elections were announced. Some of them did not see such an election in decades. For instance, Jahangirnagar University held the JUCSU election in 1992.

Maisha Maliha, who is contesting for the position of vice president in the council of Kobi Sufia Kamal Hall, interpreted the campaign as a tool to suppress women. Character assassination, body shaming, and bullying constitute the crime that women of this country have battled for a long time, she said. “We have arrived at this position after fighting such nuisances throughout our lives,” said Maisha.

Women not wearing hijab are labeled as “Shahbaghi.”  A total of 462 candidates are primarily selected for this year’s DUCSU election by the election commission. Of the candidates, 60 are women.

Of the nine announced panels, five are led by women. Two women are vying for Vice President (VP), one for General Secretary (GS), and two for Assistant General Secretary (AGS). Additionally, several others are contesting secretarial and member posts.

Umama Fatema, the first to announce her candidacy and former spokesperson of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said she has been at the center of a storm of rumors. One viral claim alleged she sought to ban all political activity in Sufia Kamal Hall except leftist politics.

“This is false. In our official statement submitted to the provost, we clearly wrote that all politics—left, right, and Islamic—should be prohibited in the hall premises,” Fatema said. She also alleged that parts of her statement were distorted in different media outlets.

Alongside misinformation, Umama has been subjected to offensive posts and body-shaming comments. “Women are always an easy target — inside or outside politics. They are enduring continuous propaganda, cyberbullying, and offensive tagging,” said Sadekur Rahman Sunny, who is participating in the DUCSU election from the panel called Swatantro Shikkarti Oikya’ (Independent Student Unity).

VP candidate Md Abu Shadik (Kayem) from Shibir’s panel in a Facebook post claimed that their four female candidates are also facing cyber harassment. Candidates’ political ideologies, as well as their personal lives, were also used in some attacks against them.

Abidul Islam, a VP candidate from Chhatra Dal (JCD), faced rumors alleging that he was linked to Shibir during his days at Tamirul Millat. Abid publicly rejected the claim, accusing Shibir of spreading the propaganda against him.

Numan Ahmad Chowdhury, who is vying for the post of Liberation War and Democratic Movement Affairs Secretary, believed that he was targeted by a bot army attack.

“I lost my profile minutes after declaring out panel. Simultaneous reports from unknown accounts blocked my access to my Facebook account,” he said. "Bot army" refers to thousands of fake accounts controlled under a computer program.

Bot armies' favorite ground of operation is different Facebook groups and pages where the army finds its enemies. Candidates claim that these bot campaigns are not just discrediting them but also threatening them with their lives.

When asked about cybersecurity measures for the candidates, DUCSU’s Chief Returning Officer Professor Mohammad Jasim Uddin said that they were in touch with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to address the issue.