Assaults on Ducsu VP unfortunate

We are shocked by the news of the humiliating treatment inflicted on the new Ducsu VP by Chhatra League activists at the Salimullah Muslim Hall of Dhaka University on Tuesday. It happened after Nurul Haq Nur along with several others visited the hall to submit a memorandum protesting an assault on a student. He was then assaulted, confined in a room for about two hours, and had eggs thrown at him as he was being escorted out by the hall provost. Even his companions were not spared. The incident, which marked the first case of assault against the VP after the Ducsu central committee started to function, was but an extension of the thinly-veiled vindictive campaign that started after he announced his candidacy and went on to win the post. Since then, VP-bashing has been a constant feature of BCL's post-election narrative, and it didn't taper off even after the prime minister urged the newly-elected Ducsu leaders to work together to maintain a peaceful atmosphere on the campus.

All this is especially unfortunate given the decades-long wait that preceded the March 11 election, which had created a lot of expectations. But the manner in which the election was conducted and subsequent developments saw the expectations from the Ducsu election crash-land in a most unfortunate way. New developments indicate an increasingly bitter face-off not only within the Ducsu but also between the student activists on the one hand and the BCL and the administration on the other.

We fail to understand the administration's continued silence and inaction in the face of all the allegations. It must rise to the occasion, take action against the perpetrators and end the BCL high-handedness. On its part, the BCL, which "welcomed" the election after 23 out of the 25 Ducsu central committee posts were filled by its members, should take visible steps to let the new Ducsu committee function properly, avoid interventions by its central and hall units and all such untoward incidents in the future. This is the least it can do to salvage whatever is left of its credibility.