The University of Dhaka, which was founded a century ago, is a distinctive institution. The first ever movement for our mother tongue was formed on this university campus, and it was the place where the initial seeds of the Bengali nationalist movement were planted. Intellectuals, patriots, well-known public figures like Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, and Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin are interred here for all eternity. This is the place of the Raju sculpture, a beacon for the many movements against injustice in our country.
On October 31, around 2.30 am, a student of Dhaka University was accused of molesting a woman while intoxicated in TSC. The victim stated that her phone had been seized and that she had been assaulted. The following afternoon, she went to the university's proctor to make a written complaint against the student, but she was ignored. Afterwards, the accused student was temporarily expelled due to pressure from the media. After this incident, the question that has once again arisen in everyone's mind is that if common people are getting harassed by university's students, how safe is this place?
The most disheartening aspect is that this isn't the first such incident on campus. Before this, several occurrences that weren't covered in this manner had occurred. On November 3, I myself witnessed one such incident: On my way back from Nazirabazar, a group of students from the residential hall approached me while parking their bikes on the Dhaka University campus and launched various inquiries at me. While interrogating me, one of them came at me from behind and started abusing me with various profanities, and then tried to physically assault me.
At that point, as the number of people in the group grew, a few friends who had been by my side came to my rescue and managed to save me. What was mainly shocking is the fact that, despite the commotion, I did not see any police officers or security staff nearby.
Since Dhaka University is an open campus, all kinds of people are allowed to be here. But, recently, it has been seen that some students of the university's residential hall, whenever they see outsiders, often become increasingly hostile and even take the harassment to the next level by engaging in physical assault.
Moreover, this is a place for people of all ideologies, where anyone has the ability to move freely within the law. But nowadays, there is this tendency for anyone who is not a student of Dhaka University to be considered “outsiders” and they can be subjected to harassment here at any moment.
The university administration has little knowledge of the security issue. Their primary excuse is that it is difficult for them to exert total control because of the public nature of the campus. As a result, they also need support from the government to enhance the role of the police, relevant intelligence agencies, and the municipal corporation on campus.
Finally, the general public is being harassed not only by university students but also by local residents. Prior to this, in 2020, reports of numerous crimes such as the rape of a DU student, were aired on TV and news publications. The protesters draped black cloth over the sculptures of Raju as a show of protest. The movement eventually lost momentum over time, although incidents of this nature persisted. Again, incidents of this type were not frequent in the past, but they are now quite common.
However, the eastern side of the route from Shahbagh to Doel Chatwar, in particular, has been dangerous for a while. Once more, the preceding lights are not functional due to metro rail construction. These criminals are becoming emboldened because of inadequate security measures provided by administrative staff and the police.
Dhaka University has been left to the mercy of these criminal elements for far too long, it's high time the government and relevant administrative bodies focused on improving the state of security in this esteemed institution.
Apurba Mogumder is a freelance contributor.