There is no doubt that, in its current form, student politics has done more damage to Bangladesh than anything good.
From their rampant hooliganism and vandalism to frequent clashes between the ruling party's student wing and their opposition counterparts that leave nothing but destruction in their wake, emboldened by our culture of impunity, these thugs continue to wreak havoc and give the very concept of student politics a bad name.
Which is why it was nothing short of an alarm when the ruling party's student wing announced some months ago that they were planning to expand beyond the confines of public universities and were targeting private universities next.
Thankfully, the Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) seems to have understood the assignment as they have announced that any and all forms of student politics, regardless of party affiliations, would not be tolerated in private university campuses.
While APUB's policy on student politics does allay fears of our private universities falling into the same pit that our public universities find themselves in, the fact that the student wings of political parties would still be allowed to form committees still gives us pause. If APUB is serious about not tolerating any political activity in private university campuses, such committees need to be strictly monitored -- lest we forget, the Hizb-ut-Tahrir was able to infiltrate one of the most reputed private universities in the nation.
We cannot overstate the importance of keeping private universities free of politics. These institutions were created to be politics-free in the first place, which is one of the reasons why so many students opt for them over their public counterparts -- institutions which have, sadly, become rife with partisan politics and violence.
The very concept of student politics needs to be reworked from what it is today. But, until then, let students be students.
