Politics is not my cup of tea, but in these turbulent times, one cannot simply disassociate oneself from what is happening around us. In the lines of Charles Dickens: It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. It’s the age of reason, it’s the age of foolishness.
The country, which underwent a seismic change last year, is moving towards elections while the public university campuses are already abuzz with activity as the student elections are a little more than a week away. As a regular visitor to the Dhaka University campus, my alma mater and one time employer, I see the excitement, thrill, and anticipation among students. The general students.
This is indeed heartening because, for too long, the general students without any political tag, were unceremoniously side-lined. For more than a decade, the campus was under the control of one party, which in the end, had started to behave like the sole ruler of all campus related activities. General students were pawns.
The refreshing thing, as we are told by many students, is that, now, any student can step forward, voice his/her concerns and decide to run for a post in the central students’ union.
Sport and culture to unite
Speaking to several students, some running for culture, sport-related posts, got an idea as to what the current students want the union to deliver. Muhaimenul Islam Toki, running for sports secretary, is a cricket player plus writer whose book “60 Shologramer Suicide Note” was unveiled at the Ekushey Boi Mela last year, creating a sensation.
He observes: “I have always been a sportsperson, have played for well-known outfits and feel that sports of all kinds can be used to help students have fun and pursue a career.” Elaborating on the line, he adds: “There are quite a few sportsmen and women in the university who would love to take up their respective sport more seriously and make an attempt to carve a livelihood out of it. Due to lack of proper nurturing or patronage they lose their interest to seriously pursue sport as a profession.”
Echoing Toki’s sentiment, his batchmate and fellow cricket player, Rakib, observes: “Sport related jobs, whether as a player or coach have become attractive options to many students, the union’s sport secretary can, in addition to organizing campus based sport events, help those wanting to pursue a sport professionally build the right contacts. Enthusiastic about a unique idea, he adds: “Partnering with top business conglomerates which regularly recruit players for corporate leagues, we can set up a talent-hunt-cum-job recruitment fair.”
Borno, a student from the department of History feels a proper history club is essential where students will discuss, debate about global issues. There have been too many attempts to airbrush history in the past and general students were arm-twisted into accepting particular narratives as gospel, he bristles. “Free from political sanitizing, we need to discuss our past openly, with all its flaws and mistakes to identify our shortcomings, rectify them, and move ahead.”
Arpita, a first year student, who grew up within the campus due to her father’s employment with the university, observes: “narratives were foisted on students, which resulted in a stifling atmosphere.” Sometimes, the teachers were complicit in imposing a political dogma, which severely impacted the academic atmosphere, she lamented.
Like her, many of her classmates also feel that the elected union should represent not just political ideologies but general students who are driven by the sole motive in making the campus more free and liberal for all.
The right to express admiration
Now this is a line, which may surprise many but in reality, many general students feel that in the past, the campus did not provide independent space under which one could admire or even propose a person freely.
Saddam, a former student, laments: “I liked a girl in my class and the admiration was mutual. However, I had to restrain myself because the eyes of a political cadre fell on her.”
Forced romance is not new at all.
Saddam’s experience brought back memories of an incident from when I was a university student in the early 90s. There was a stunningly attractive girl in our class and, understandably, quite a few guys wanted to propose to her. One guy, now a well-known business tycoon, mustered the courage to approach her and soon, the couple were seen sipping tea together or chatting on the lawns.
However, things turned nasty because she was also “spotted” by a politically-linked student who came with his lackeys, slapped the guy from our class, and then forbade him from ever getting close to her. The girl had to capitulate to the gunboat romance while my classmate decided to follow the “discretion is the better part of valour” strategy.
My classmate is now a globetrotter, socially-established while the political goon, who terrorized the campus once, went beyond the pale and, eventually, slipped into obscurity. You must be thinking about the girl though, right? Well, she did not stay with the political guy in the end, choosing the life of an air stewardess.
Yes, she literally flew out of the cage.
The right to express one’s feelings and the civility to take “no” for an answer, quipped Preena, a Masters student. While the air at DU is one of festivity and hope, students living in dormitories stress that the union, once elected, must ensure proper accommodation for students. We want to say unequivocally that political allegiance should not be a deciding factor in allocating seats at halls, observed by almost everyone.
Dhaka University has always been the crucial factor in this nation’s turning points and through a transparent, fair, student polls can set an example for a liberal campus credo. As Mithun, a former student aptly said: “DU triggered the 2024 July revolution, now it’s time for the institution to revolutionize campus life.”
Towheed Feroze is a former journalist.
