AL's tough stance on BCL

IT has been reported that the Awami League high command wants tough action to be taken against the unruly BCL elements responsible for violence in educational institutions. The prime minister herself has spelt out the party's position on the issue in clear terms. Obviously, the situation has turned critical and there is perhaps no alternative to the pure law and order approach to defuse campus tension, which sometimes degenerates into senseless bloodletting.
Without question, the AL leaders and ministers' realisation that the culprits have to be brought to justice is based on a correct assessment of the ground reality. The BCL troublemakers, even divided among themselves, are not only causing harm to academic atmosphere but also bruising the ruling party's image.
It is obvious that the ruling party is left embarrassed by their errant activity. Yet the unruly elements could not have gone so haywire without support from certain quarters from within the party. So, exhortations and warnings just might not be enough, the links between such student activists and their patrons need to be severed.
The general secretary of the BCL has pointed out certain organisational and structural weaknesses of the student outfit. The BCL committees in different institutions have been there for a long time without election being held, and in some cases there is no committee at all. So, the BCL has to overcome its own organisational limitations before it can blame outsiders and intruders for violence on campus.
Again, the signs of the party distancing itself from or severing connections with its unmanageable student activists, might sound positive, but refraining from doing anything organisationally may also give the unruly elements the license to carry on as they pleased.
The ruling party's directive to the law enforcers to be tough on the BCL lawbreakers is indeed a welcome response, but it must also be ensured that the law enforcers get an absolute freehand to work without any inhibitions. In other words, the ruling party has to live up to its promise of sparing none when it comes to enforcing the law. Obviously, the honesty, commitment and neutrality of the police will be a crucially important matter when they deal with the elements operating in the name of the ruling party.