Campus violence spells disaster

THE recent killing of Saad Ibne Momtaz, a final year student  of BAU at Mymensingh and, just within two days, the murder of  Rustam Ali Akanda,  a fourth year student of political science department of Rajshai University,  both of them belonging to BCL, has sent shock waves across the country. These two incidents once again laid bare the unbridled BCL rowdyism that is turning the public universities into veritable battlegrounds.
Citizens are not only worried  but also believe that these are not isolated incidents in one or two educational institutions  but are part of the orgy of violence taking place across many public universities, almost all of which have ended in deaths. People only see that there is no end to these atrocities, rather such rowdyism continues to flare, indicating a slide to disorder and violence in the campuses of the universities in consequence of intra- or inter-party conflicts.  
Concerned citizens urged political leaders to declare a moratorium on student politics, especially religion-based politics, for some years in universities and colleges. Student politics in recent times has taken away hundreds of promising lives from our midst, leaving the unfortunate families in a pall of gloom and shock. The golden and glorifying age of our patriotic political leaders and statesmen is a fading memory for many now.
It is high time for conscientious citizens to come out in public and express their outrage and revulsion against such politics. Many people whose voices seem to have been silenced by the upsurge of violent politics are still waging a battle to preserve those pristine values that kept the nation marching towards peace and prosperity, leaving the students absorbed in their studies.
People recall the days when students in the country had to abandon their studies and respond to the call of the time in throwing out the British Raj from this sub-continent. The heroic role of the students in the Language Movement of '52, anti-Ayub movement in the '60s, anti-education policy movement in 1962, mass upsurge in 1969 and Liberation War in 1971, can hardly be forgotten. But unfortunately, the spirit of idealism that once burned bright in many gave way to negative impulses during the successive rules of partisan politics in the last 43 years.
The signal these continued acts of violence in campuses give to the nation is ominous. It indicates the BCL cadres' complete disdain not only for the university authority and the interest of the students but also for the ruling party. The problem has stemmed from the university authorities' inability to hold central students' union elections for more than two decades. Public universities are no longer centres for higher studies but have turned into safe havens for gun-toting criminals masquerading as students.
People could never conceive that student politics would breed terrorism, murder, tender manipulation, extortion, admission trade and seat allotment business in residential halls of the public universities. Students have been used as tools in achieving the interest of some politicians and in climbing the ladder of power with all its concomitant privileges.
People can recall how a former president polluted the politics of the country as well as academic future of the students through distribution of favours to a handful of students by inducting them into the quagmire of dirty politics. These innocent boys at the prime of their life were lured to a life of darkness from light by the temptation of fast money made through unethical means. The journey to hell started from then. The campuses these days, as reports say, are arsenals of weapons that are being used freely by these young goons. Power and strength these days come from the barrel of the gun and not from academic pursuit and knowledge.
But this was never the objective that the parents had in mind when they sent their wards to join colleges and universities. What could be more shocking for parents than to see their sons, who were pulsating with life and enthusiasm, coming back home in a coffin as a result of campus violence?
Nobody would question the need for having student organisations on ideological basis. Students' philosophy of life and idealism are moulded and shaped by their exposure to world literature and history during their studies in colleges and universities. But to drag them into vicious politics on the pretext that national identity and sovereignty face a crisis amounts to inviting gloom for the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, when she was in power in 2009, gave up her role as the patron of BCL after she failed to rein-in the criminal elements in her own party's student wing. But this fine emotional gesture did not have any effect on the warring factions. During the last 5 years, conflicts, clashes and killings as a consequence of sharing money got through extortion and tender manipulation have continued unabated. The situation has come to such a pass that if the PM does not take steps quickly, we could find ourselves being ruled by thugs instead of a democratically elected government.
People wonder if the massive election victory has caused the leadership quality and political sagacity to atrophy instead of radiating the guiding spirit that people demanded and craved for so long? The student wing, far from being an asset, is destroying the party's image.
In the worst of times, draconian laws are framed. But when it comes to implementation, precious little is done. Since the AL came to power for the second time in early 2014, have seen in stunned disbelief the most audacious acts of terrorism and killings. The police in most cases stayed away from the scene. In the academic institutions, the destructive elements get hardly punished. Recalling the incident of 2009 at JU, six students were expelled for six months only for their involvement in violence. The PM must have noticed that there is a general disenchantment with the government's inability to do anything that hardly goes beyond the motions of governance.
Student organisations are extensions of the political parties, and are busy collecting money from any source possible instead of concentrating on issues related to studies, student welfare and employment opportunities after completing studies. Using the signboards of different parties, these armed hooligans have sown the seeds of a new brand of politics that uses terror and corruption to consolidate power. Now all the political parties must think seriously about de-linking the student wing of the parties in the hope that the wounds will begin to heal.

The writer is a columnist of The Daily Star.    
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