Price of unrest in campuses
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Bloody campus violence has been pervasive for some months coinciding with the take-over by the new government. The latest in the series of violence has crippled the premier centre of medical science learning in the country, the Dhaka Medical College (DMC). It has been closed down for an indefinite period following serious acts of violence involving the raiding of its dormitories by outsiders leading to death of one student leader from beating. The outsiders were invited to this campus by a rival group of students who aspired to end the dominance of the opponent faction of their own student organisation in the DMC. The troubles in the DMC were but a reflection of the lingering infighting between rival groups claiming to be the student wings of the ruling party all over the country.
It could be that the clashing groups' stated links to their parent political party has been an inhibitor of appropriate law enforcement actions against them. Clearly, this has been the case and the statements issued from time to time by the leaders of the ruling party, for exercising restraint by all concerned and cracking down on the members of the feuding groups in the event of their failure to do so have not been heard or carried weight. The surety of a crackdown against those responsible for the clashes like that which took place last Tuesday in the DMC has not really meant anything substantive in nature so far. The battling student groups may have received mixed signals so far. They were, no doubt, warned about the stick if they failed to rein in their violent activities. But at the same time, they are also probably feeling encouraged from statements from the top that the government has no intention to put a cap on student politics considering its glorious past and other factors. This may have been wrongly interpreted by them as a license to do what they like fearing little or no tough law enforcement actions against them and more so in view of their attachment to the ruling party.
Thus, it is time for the government to be decisive in its thoughts and actions. Procrastination or wavering cannot be the response to an issue that has been sapping the vitals of the nation. Education, specially higher education, is central to fulfilling the nation's needs in the vital spheres. Institutions such as the DMC produce highly valued human resources for the country. But these have been getting closed down one after another in quick succession. The costs of the same in the form of session jams, consequent unnecessary prolongation of time of academic courses, additional rearing costs of their young ones by the guardians, the migration of students to foreign countries in the backdrop of dysfunctional campuses at home, the costs of the upkeep of this student population abroad, etc., all cumulatively add up to huge losses of time and resources for this one of the poorest countries of the world.
Therefore, the issue of dealing with the situation in the country's campuses has assumed an urgency that cannot be addressed with a mentality as if there is all the time in the world to do this. The same must be responded to -- immediately -- shaking off all sorts of romantic notions. For the time being, all kinds of activities in the campuses in the name of so called student politics ought to be considered and raised very seriously. The ruling party must sit with elements of its student wings to sort out representational and all other problems for continuation of their activities in the campuses. But such activities should be only under guidelines so that a recurrence of violence can be absolutely avoided and peaceful conditions become a sustainable feature of the campuses. The same principle will have to apply to student fronts of all other parties as well.
It could be that the clashing groups' stated links to their parent political party has been an inhibitor of appropriate law enforcement actions against them. Clearly, this has been the case and the statements issued from time to time by the leaders of the ruling party, for exercising restraint by all concerned and cracking down on the members of the feuding groups in the event of their failure to do so have not been heard or carried weight. The surety of a crackdown against those responsible for the clashes like that which took place last Tuesday in the DMC has not really meant anything substantive in nature so far. The battling student groups may have received mixed signals so far. They were, no doubt, warned about the stick if they failed to rein in their violent activities. But at the same time, they are also probably feeling encouraged from statements from the top that the government has no intention to put a cap on student politics considering its glorious past and other factors. This may have been wrongly interpreted by them as a license to do what they like fearing little or no tough law enforcement actions against them and more so in view of their attachment to the ruling party.
Thus, it is time for the government to be decisive in its thoughts and actions. Procrastination or wavering cannot be the response to an issue that has been sapping the vitals of the nation. Education, specially higher education, is central to fulfilling the nation's needs in the vital spheres. Institutions such as the DMC produce highly valued human resources for the country. But these have been getting closed down one after another in quick succession. The costs of the same in the form of session jams, consequent unnecessary prolongation of time of academic courses, additional rearing costs of their young ones by the guardians, the migration of students to foreign countries in the backdrop of dysfunctional campuses at home, the costs of the upkeep of this student population abroad, etc., all cumulatively add up to huge losses of time and resources for this one of the poorest countries of the world.
Therefore, the issue of dealing with the situation in the country's campuses has assumed an urgency that cannot be addressed with a mentality as if there is all the time in the world to do this. The same must be responded to -- immediately -- shaking off all sorts of romantic notions. For the time being, all kinds of activities in the campuses in the name of so called student politics ought to be considered and raised very seriously. The ruling party must sit with elements of its student wings to sort out representational and all other problems for continuation of their activities in the campuses. But such activities should be only under guidelines so that a recurrence of violence can be absolutely avoided and peaceful conditions become a sustainable feature of the campuses. The same principle will have to apply to student fronts of all other parties as well.