After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian regime last week, the demand for broad-based reforms in various sectors has become vociferous. The interim government is, however, not in a position to fulfil all such demands within a short period, as its primary responsibility is to restore law and order and make all the state machinery and institutions functional. Citizens also need to cooperate with the interim government to bring some stability to the country within a reasonable time. So, the demand list needs to be brief, and emphasis should be put on making the measures effective.
Nevertheless, one necessary and rational demand now is banning student politics or at least restricting it for now. The reason is simple. Student politics is rotten already and has become a pervasive tool of intimidation and corruption. After the overthrow of autocrat Ershad regime in 1990, thanks to the vital role of student bodies, the country entered into a democratic phase. Unfortunately, student politics also started to degrade as its link with power politics increased. For the next three and a half decades, student wings of two major ruling parties gradually turned into organisations of bullies and criminals. They became intolerant to the opposition and other student bodies.
The situation deteriorated severely in the last decade when the Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL) became an organisation of terror at worst. Backed by the ruling party, the Bangladesh Awami League, and with support from law enforcement agencies, leaders and activists of BCL terrorised rivals as well as innocent students. Intimidation, torture, illegal toll collection, physical harassment of female students and even murder of students go to their 'credit'. The brutal killing of Abrar Fahad in BUET by a group of BCL activists in 2019 horrified everyone. Following the incident, students compelled the BUET authority to ban student politics at the campus.
The list of BCL's misdeeds and criminal acts is long, and the number of victims is innumerable. However, BCL activists' attack on students demanding the reform of the quota system became a major turning point of the movement in July last. It fuelled mass anger and protests erupted across the country, and for the first time, ordinary students resisted the goons of the BCL.
Ordinary students, not aligned to any party, have suffered a lot due to the politics of terror. They have rightly raised their voices against partisan politics at campuses. Echoing their voices, coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement have already demanded that all political activities in the name of student politics be banned in all educational institutions. Parents and guardians also demand this. Except for some irresponsible and insensitive people, no one favours student politics in the traditional form.
In fact, the underlying message of the demand for banning student politics is restricting the current form of student politics, where various student organisations are affiliated with multiple political parties and primarily serve the interests of the mother organisations, not students. Instead, students need to be allowed to organise themselves for various valid reasons on any non-political platform. Students of BUET have already demonstrated how to do it and set an example. The anti-discrimination student movement is the most shining example of this connection, showing that students with more outstanding common interests can join hands together to advance the cause.
So, it will be the right move to restrict party-affiliated student politics in the country immediately, and a wholesale ban may be taken into consideration later. As colleges and universities need to be opened soon and students have to return to their classrooms and work hard to make up for losses to studies, suspension of student politics is a must. Also, politics for teachers should also not be entertained.
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