Paradise lost?

The events at Eden College since the night of March 7 have unfortunately brought this hitherto quiet campus into the limelight, but the truth of the matter is that the rot set in some time ago and in many ways mirrors the rot that exists in all our other institutions of higher education.

The cancer at the heart of Eden College is the take-over of the campus by ruling party cadres, many of whom are not even actual students, and the authorities turning a blind eye to their criminal activities.

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In a sense this should come as no surprise, since these days college administrators are hand-picked for their unquestioning fealty to the ruling party and so are actively complicit in the abuses of the party cadres. The fact that the quality of education on offer as a result has plummeted and the campus has become a den of criminal activity bothers the administrations of today not in the least.

It was as long ago as September 2003 that The Daily Star first reported that JCD cadres at Eden College were dealing rooms in the hostels to the incoming freshers for money and were forcing those who did not pay up out of the rooms to make way for those who did submit to their extortion.

This is a common practice in our universities and did not begin with the tenure of the ruling alliance in 2001, but as with all the other abuses of power that we have lived with for so long, the practice has now reached unprecedented levels of criminality.

It has been reported that the former principal of Eden College and some of the other staff had attempted to take a stand against the criminality that was rampant in the college, but that they were pressured to quit by senior government officials as a result of their efforts, leaving the field wide open for the cadres to continue with their activities.

Nor are the activities of the JCD cadres restricted to extorting money from students for place in the hostels, it has also been reported that they run a flourishing business in admitting first year students in exchange for money, something that can only be accomplished with the complicity of the college authorities.

The current crisis began on March 7 when the JCD cadres took over 15 rooms in different hostels and evicted some 20 of the rightful occupants. This was not the first time that innocent students had been summarily evicted by the cadres, but enough was enough. It was this that caused the students to start demonstrating on March 8, demanding reinstatement of the evicted students.

The response of the college authorities was disgraceful. They made no move to reinstate the students and let the illegal eviction stand. Then, in an attempt to defuse the tensions that had been caused by their siding with the cadres, on March 13, the authorities issued a notice for all students to vacate the dorms, despite the fact that exams were still going on and that many of the students did not have anywhere else to go.

It was to protest this decision that students blockaded the street in front of the campus from 4 pm on March 13 until the early afternoon the next day.

Throughout the day the JCD cadres, armed with sticks and brickbats, kept guard over the dorms and pelted the demonstrators and beat up anyone who came anywhere near the vicinity of the dorms.

At one point the JCD cadres swooped down on the demonstrators and unleashed a vicious attack, injuring ten of them, and sending three to the hospital. It was only when the shocking pictures of this violent assault were splashed on the front pages of the dailies that the country sat up and took notice of what had been happening.

But what is happening at Eden College is not new and indeed is the modus operandi of all institutions of higher education in the country.

That this is a national problem should be self-evident and no sentient person can defend the degradation of our once internationally reputed university campuses.

That political cadres, most of whom are not even active students, are permitted to not only impose a reign of terror over the campuses, but are also involved in wholesale criminality, is bad enough.

But what compounds the problem is that this is being done with the full support of a section of the government who will go to any lengths to ensure that the campuses do not become centers of political opposition and thus turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of their own cadres.

There are numerous instances where the government has systematically replaced genuine vice chancellors and principals all over the country with their compliant lackeys who are under strict instruction to go to any lengths to accommodate the cadres who effectively run the campuses.

Let us look at the pathetic response of the principal of Eden College to the take-over of the campus under her ostensible control by the JCD cadres, many of whom, let me remind you, are not even actual students.

First, she has sat idle for almost two years while the JCD cadres have been selling admissions and hostel space (though apparently a committee was finally formed last week to look into the matter). Then she did nothing when 20 students were evicted from their rooms, refusing to even meet with the demonstrators to discuss their legitimate concerns. Then she took the indefensible decision to close down the dorms during exams that has only exacerbated the problem. Throughout the crisis, it has been clear which side she has been on.

For its part, the JCD has said that the Eden College organization is divided into feuding factions and that the criminal activities might be the work of one faction. The JCD central committee has said that they have no organization at Eden College. Right.

It is the same old story, but with women instead of men. The campuses have been taken over by political cadres and the authorities are too craven to stop them. In a sense, we should not blame the university authorities too much since it is clear that they are just lackeys who are acting according to their instructions.

Make no mistake about it, as with everything else in this country, nothing can happen on campus unless it has official support. The reason that public education is in such a mess and that rampant criminality on campus is permitted to continue without check is because of the practices that are being followed by the government.

But the true tragedy is that in this country things are so politicized that the government can easily find stooges to do its bidding, however odious the task, and that no one from within the party or among its supporters will raise their voice in opposition, ensuring that any campaign to improve things ends up a partisan and thus failed exercise.

Zafar Sobhan is Assistant Editor, The Daily Star.