Student politics casting gloom on campus

Violent agitation at Jahangirnagar University.

IN the backdrop of student groups' involvement in cadre politics, increased violence, tender manipulation and admission business, the citizens have issued a clarion call to the political parties for a consensus in declaring a moratorium on student politics in colleges and universities. Student politics in recent times has taken away hundreds of promising lives from our midst.
student groups' involvement in cadre politics, increased violence, tender manipulation and admission business, the citizens have issued a clarion call to the political parties for a consensus in declaring a moratorium on student politics in colleges and universities. Student politics in recent times has taken away hundreds of promising lives from our midst.
The glorious age when politicians and statesmen kept politics for themselves is a fading memory for many now. Many people whose voices seem to have been silenced by the upsurge of violent politics are still fighting to preserve those pristine values that led the nation to peace and prosperity, leaving the students absorbed in their studies.
People recall the time when students in our sub-continent had to abandon their studies and respond to the call of the time in driving out the British Raj from this sub-continent. The heroic role that the students played in the historic Language Movement of '52, anti-Ayub movement in the '60s, anti-education commission movement in 1962, mass upsurge in 1969 and liberation war in 1971 can hardly be overestimated.
The student community along with the general masses spearheaded the movement and stood in revolt against the highhandedness of the Pakistani rulers. But shockingly, the spirit of idealism that once burned bright in many suddenly gave way to negative impulses during the successive rules of the last four decades.
The main culprit in that decline, as most people committed to national ideology, peace and development believe, is an overt attempt to usher in a period of increasing authoritarianism, debased morality, spreading corruption, political betrayal, dynastic aspirations, and divisive politics.
In the backdrop of these unhappy developments, intellectuals and conscious citizens of the country demanded of the then governments and politicians to abstain from placing funds at the disposal of the students groups, which only helped them indulge in destructive activities that spelled disaster on the academic campus.
In the years that followed the assassination of Bangabandhu, hundreds of student activists belonging either to opposition parties or others were killed. Stalwarts, mostly belonging to party organisations having connections with the government in the earlier days, who orchestrated these sort of blood-lettings were never brought to book, ostensibly because of their close connection with the government of the day.
The killing of 7 students activists belonging to a student party -- in Mohsin Hall of Dhaka university in 1974 -- and the arrest of the rival leaders followed by jail sentence of the leader of the gang, and subsequent reprieve by the then president, spawned the disastrous change in student politics.
The country, believably, is suffering under the strain of student-backed politics, which often leads to conflicts. Terrifying violence has already enveloped the country in a manner that no citizen could have ever foreseen. The victims have been the promising sons of the country. The apprehension grows deeper that, with population still growing at an alarming rate, the country;s deteriorating demographics will witness a worsening of that violence.
Our country, doubtless, has become a cauldron. Some political leaders belonging to all shades seem to have a narrow cause, often in disregard to national interest. Ill-served by those whose concern rarely extends beyond their purses, many student activists have become adept in shrieking for their rights but shirking their responsibilities. The warning bells have been sounded and their grim message reverberates throughout the country.
It was never imagined by the people that student politics would breed terrorism, extortion, and murder. Students have been used as tools in achieving the interest of some politicians and in climbing the ladder of power with all concomitant privileges, taking the students away from pursuing the academic goals.
These days student politics is not concerned about the academic problems, such as textbook problems, computer facilities, photocopies at nominal charges, rising expenses of food, non-availability of seats in the halls of residence, session jam and shrinking opportunities for jobs. Student politics these days appear to be synonymous with terrorism, extortion, and cadre politics of flexing muscles in the academic areas.
With the garments sector still explosive, prices of food items shooting up, and war crimes trial in the offing, the country is passing through a critical time. With all the turmoil gripping the nation, the decision of the Chittagong University authorities to announce tuition fee hike has been most unwise.
In the aftermath of the clashes, the net achievement was the suspension of academic activities for more than a month. Pragmatism demands that none should be allowed to look for or create issues that add fuel to the fire.
People recall with anguish how a former president polluted the politics of the country through distribution of favours to a handful of students and inducting them into the quagmire of dirty politics. Those innocent boys at the prime of their life were lured to a life of darkness from light by the temptation of fast money made available to then through different means. When such favours dried up, they resorted to terrorism with the objective of getting rich overnight, which heralded the death of their academic careers.
The campuses these days have turned out to be arsenals of sophisticated weapons. But this was never the objective that drove the parents to send their wards to join colleges and universities, especially in Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chittagong. What could be more shocking for the parents than their wards coming back home in a coffin as a sequel to campus violence? It is high time that the people and sensible students realised the incalculable harm that a section of politicians has done to the student community.
Nobody will question the need for having student organisations on ideological basis. A student's philosophy of life and idealism are moulded and shaped by his exposure to world literature and history during his studies in college and university. But dragging them into the quagmire of national politics on the pretext that national identity and sovereignty face a crisis amounts to inviting gloom for the country.
With an unshakable belief in democracy that has now been established after years of hectic efforts, our youth should fashion a national consensus on the broad issues of economic development, which would be manifested and reflected in their post-university lives in different activities.
The perils that the country faces today have largely been inflicted by some of our leaders because of their shallowness, aloofness and self-aggrandisement. If the youth prepare themselves for responsibility through studies, training and research, the country can step into a world free from distress, debt and destruction.
Through sustained effort, we could still take up some role in the stewardship of world affairs, a possibility that Bangabandhu and other sagacious leaders dreamt of in the early days of our liberation.

Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET. e-mail : [email protected]