PM at the BCL Council

Prime Minister's forthright address to the 28th council of Bangladesh Chhatra League on Saturday reverberated with some very pertinent instructions to student leaders and councillors. Her first note of caution was against tarnishing the historical image of BCL, cast in a rich legacy from which it has deviated in no small measure. 

We get to see BCL cadres hogging news lines for internecine conflicts, scramble over tender business and committing other excesses in educational institutions. Lack of control of the national party or the government over them is baffling but not inexplicable.  

The Prime Minister has often shown an awareness of the phenomenon and issued warnings of stern actions against wayward elements but to little avail. There were expulsions from the BCL units at the most and no deterrent legal or institutional action against them.

In this backdrop, the BCL council couldn't have happened at a more propitious time; it offered a valuable opportunity for the PM to give clear-cut directions to BCL leaders and councillors from all over the country. She urged them to be bound by idealism to serve the nation in place of pursuing narrow self-interest. That can only help resurrect some of the old glories of the party and make it a relevant force for the good of education and the nation as a whole. 

Pointing to the aging BCL leadership, PM stressed the need for infusion of youth and merit into the party. Of special significance is her firm stance favouring election to form a  new BCL committee. This should be followed up on.