Last week's student violence in and around the campus of the University of Dhaka, our nation’s highest seat of education, is nothing more than a “political repeat game” for many.
I have nothing much to say about them, those who subscribe to the idea of “tit for tat” and consider one wrong action to be automatically justified by the precedence of similar wrongs which have happened in the past. They must be seasoned political pundits in a land of nascent democracy, if we're expected to say so, where development is taking place at a much faster rate than the inculcation of civility.
The incident, in brief, can be summed up as a section of a student group not permitting a rival, politically-inclined student group any access to the university area. To that end, they had employed muscle power brandishing makeshift weapons (bamboo sticks, iron rods, and even machetes). The political environment is very much in their favour, with unfortunate, yet understandable, inaction on the part of the state apparatus, that is our law enforcement.
After last week's incidents of repeated violence and a day of relative calm, I visited the DU campus on Friday to attend a poetry session at the RC Majumdar Auditorium. There I had a chance meeting with a young student leader of that university whom I found to be quite the culture enthusiast and a wise young mind possessing the necessary drive and aptitude in learning about our country’s rich heritage and our diverse, cultural plurality.
Also Read
- 32 BCL members sued over clash with JCD at DU
- Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal activists clash again at DU
- Chhatra League files case against Chhatra Dal men over Tuesday’s clash
As things stand, he is on the “right side” of the violent clashes which took place on campus. He belongs to the group that took upon the responsibility of keeping DU out of the reach of their political rivals.
I asked him for his take on the violence being employed as a tool to hush up political opponents, and the sophomore was quick to express his apparent distaste for such a demonstration of muscle power in student politics.
But what struck me was his followup thought. He said, “organizationally speaking, we have no other option but to employ force.” Upon my inquiry about this decision, he began referring to the rival student front, now at the receiving end of violent harassment, and said: “Didn’t they do that same to us? And do you believe that they wouldn’t resort to violence once they get to the power again?”
Many people may find themselves struggling to respond to this young student leader’s tough question, as if there is no endgame. But to me, this sounded nothing more than a catch-22.
I’m old enough to be able to recall how one of our top two ladies in national politics had once called for a mutual dismantling of student politics – a brand of politics that only promotes students to become mere lackeys to national political parties and settle scores (read: Resort to violence) on campuses just to serve the petty interests of such parties.
The other lady never responded to that call.
Time has come for coming generations to completely remould what “student politics” means. To that end, our current student politicians need to be brave enough to say “no” to the roughshod politics of boot-licking that pervades the culture as it stands. Student politicians and leaders should serve to promote the causes of students, not advancing the interests of vested politicians, money-launderers, and the corrupt elites.