After the July mass uprising, the oppressive culture of gono rooms (a large overcrowded, mass-living room) and guest rooms in the residential halls of Dhaka University has come to an end. The tendency of forcibly taking students to programmes organised by the ruling party’s student wing has also stopped. The quality of food in canteens of various halls has improved compared to before. However, even in the post-uprising period, the culture of abusing and harassing anyone by attaching a “tag” to them remains on campus much like before.

With the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, the absolute dominance of its student organisation Bangladesh Chhatra League (now banned) also came to an end.

During the rule of the Awami League (now barred from activities), beating students on suspicion of being members of Islami Chhatra Shibir was almost a routine occurrence on the campus of DU. These acts were carried out by leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League.

Now, incidents are occurring where people are beaten, tortured, and handed over to police after being tagged as supporters of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) or accomplices of fascism.

Previously, Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, had no opportunity to operate openly on campus. Since 5 August 2024, Chhatra Shibir leaders and activists have been openly engaging in politics on campus. The elected leadership of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) is now also from Chhatra Shibir. Most hall union leaders are Chhatra Shibir-backed as well. Alongside Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), left-leaning student organisations, several Islamist student organisations, and the student wing of the National Citizen Party (NCP)—Jatiya Chhatra Shakti—are now active on campus.

To examine what changes have taken place on the DU campus after the fall of the Awami League government in the mass uprising, Prothom Alo spoke with 12 students. One of them was Rafsan Islam, a residential student of Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haq Hall. He enrolled at the university in 2022. Rafsan, a student of the department of World Religions and Culture, believes that previously the campus was controlled by Chhatra League. There were gono rooms in the halls. Students were summoned to guest rooms and tortured. None of these exist anymore. The quality of canteen food has also improved somewhat.

However, in Rafsan’s view, several problems still remain, including harassment in the registrar building, classroom shortages, and mugging in areas adjacent to the campus. The housing crisis has also not been fully resolved. After the DUCSU and hall union elections, extracurricular activities have increased somewhat. Cultural events and concerts that previously took place on campus have now undergone some transformation. Since the July mass uprising, events such as qawwali performances, Seerat evenings, and puthi recitations have increased on campus.