Beating opposition for promotion

Leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) have become unusually active in Dhaka to please the higher-ups of the ruling Awami League ahead of the selection of top BCL leaders before December 24.

Centring BNP's divisional rally in Dhaka on Saturday, BCL men guarded different entry points to the Dhaka University campus, beat up Jatiya Chhatra Dal (JCD) activists, handed them over to police and staged massive showdowns.

They started taking positions on the DU campus and in Gulistan, Bangabandhu Avenue, and Shahbagh areas from Thursday.

On December 6, while addressing the 30th council of BCL, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the partial committees of central, DU and Dhaka city [north and south] units will be announced before the AL national council slated for December 24.

Although JCD is not banned by the university authorities, BCL leaders alleged that JCD men were trying to create an unstable situation ahead of the national election.

On Saturday, Riazul Islam, president of DU's Sir AF Rahman Hall unit of BCL, checked the mobile phones of five people suspecting them as JCD men at the Nilkhet intersection area and beat them before handing them over to police.

Riazul also submitted his nomination application for DU BCL unit.

Some leaders and activists of the hall units took position and remained alert at different points, as instructed by the immediate past General Secretary of the DU unit Saddam Hussain.

Saddam is also an aspirant for the top positions in central BCL.

At the instruction of Saddam, some TSC-based organisations organised a cultural performance at the Raju Memorial Sculpture, said the organisers.

Another post seeker Tanbir Hasan Shaikat organised a photo exhibition, titled "The Politics of Killing People in arson terrorism by BNP-Jamaat" opposite to a human chain of pro-BNP teachers which was held at the base of Aparajeyo Bangla.

"We have remained active on the campus after getting instructions from the prime minister to remain vigilant to resist BNP," said Shaikat.

However, no JCD activists tried to enter the DU campus area on the rally day.

Their presence was not seen on the campus since last May after the BCL leaders announced them unwanted on the campus over a provocative comment about the prime minister.

"If we fail to flaunt our activities in such situations, it will create a negative image," a vice-president of the BCL central unit and a post-seeker, told this newspaper wishing anonymity.

The DU authorities, however, said they expect regular academic activities to remain normal.

"The continuation of a congenial atmosphere is all that we want. We are always welcoming towards the regular students of the university," DU Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani told The Daily Star.