As the nation heads towards polls, the news of a member of the standing committee of Ducsu applying demeaning punishment against young children who had reportedly crossed the walls of the Dhaka University Central Field to play football, leaves a very sour taste.
There have been instances at the central field in the past when vagrant children entered the field and were caught stealing wallets or other items from bags left by students playing on the field. However, in the latest incident, all the young boys, as seen in a viral video, are aged between 8-12 and were playing football wearing proper football gear -- an indication that their sole motive was sport and fun.
Speaking on the alleged “offense” that the boys had entered from the side of Chankharpool, the farthest corner of the field, by scaling the walls, Abdur Rahim, a regular at the DU Central field and a former coach of Agrani Bank Club, voices indignation: “I am 64 years old and have been coming to this field since the early 80s and always saw local boys playing here.”
This may now be called the central-field but we have always known it as the tin kona math where students, local boys, and other teams played.
“The authority may have restricted entry now to preserve the field but stopping local boys from playing at one corner of the main field and then forcing them to do squats as punishment is plain and simple bullying.”
Memories of a dark period
The move to punish boys by wielding a stick and using intimidating language has several damaging implications.
Faizul Bari, a social observer, added: “Firstly, one cannot be punished for playing a sport, a warning or a kind request is enough and even if that request is not listened to, such degrading punishment is thoroughly condemnable because this behaviour evokes memories of the previous regime when its student wing had the campus in a stranglehold.”
“The current Ducsu was elected on the pledge that it will shun all coercive measures adopted by the previous student body; sadly, this incident illustrates that while an authoritarian regime fell, its phantoms still lurk,” lamented Abdus Sattar, a former student.
For arguments sake, one can say that to enforce discipline, strict measures are needed but the question remains: Do members of a student body have the jurisdiction to unilaterally take decisions about punitive measures? Was the Dhaka University authority aware that children playing football were being punished?
As a regular visitor of the campus, this writer has seen several laudable steps taken by the current Ducsu, including restricting the usage of campus roads to small vehicles which has significantly increased campus security by eliminating the danger from the unchecked movement of large lorries and goods carrying trucks.
The absence of triumphalism within the campus after the Ducsu election was another praiseworthy point, showing restraint and moderation.
Reportedly, several drug selling syndicates were also expelled -- something which could not be achieved in the past.
Unfortunately, in recent days, there have reportedly been several allegations of assault and loutish behaviour against certain members of Ducsu.
“As members of the student’s elected council, one has the right to work in making a better campus, but they have no authority to manhandle or physically assault anyone,” underlines Abdullah Al Bake, a former student of the Department of Political Science.
We do not know if the university authority wants to keep out outsiders (the much used bohiragoto) from campus or not but the fact is, if the campus is where it is at the moment, achieving that will be difficult.
“Dhaka University, what it stands for, and what it represents is not confined within academia and university administration,” says Masud Arif, a former journalism department student, who took part in the mass uprising of 1990.
He further adds: “The history of this country is intertwined with the DU campus, from the language movement to the toppling of two dictators and, therefore, this will always be a pilgrimage site for the masses. The DU campus is not just about education, it captures the spirit and the intricate dimensions related to the evolution of this nation. In the same manner, the central field has been open to all -- democratizing sport.”
This is one field where students, local people, clubs, and even street children played -- reflecting the egalitarian ideal of the institution, and of course the July-Aug Revolution.
Now if the authority, in its infinite wisdom, wants to clamp down on outsiders playing on the field then they might as well construct a surrounding wall around it.
Alluding to the entry of drug users into the field, Masud Arif pointed to proper lighting around the field, vigilance by the guards, and monitoring by members of Ducsu.
However, to hand out disciplinary measures is not the role of a member of a student body, he cautioned.
Without doubt, a key role of an elected body is to ensure student welfare, but it cannot be a vigilante group; that is not mentioned in its scope of work, observed Arif.
The punishment of boys who entered the field to play also sends a very regressive message, comments Tahmina Yasmin, a sociologist.
“Under no circumstances can anyone be punished for pursuing sport; this gives a terribly wrong signal about the motivation behind such an action.”
These were young boys and if they had to be removed from the field for some “urgent need,” it could have been done differently, with reason, affection, and some incentives (chocolates, snacks, sport goods). After all, we’re talking about ten-year olds here.
A few callous acts can always unravel several good ones, as the saying goes.
Winning “hearts and minds” is a much-celebrated tactic used in the past. What dialogue, support, reason, and empathy can achieve, brute force and intimidation cannot.
Hopefully, this one thoughtless act will work as a wake-up call for Ducsu members.
To end with a quote from famous philosopher Nietzsche: “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
Towheed Feroze is a former journalist.
