Editorial
Apply brake on BCL excesses
Campus congeniality must be restored
WE have been urging the government to rein in Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists since the first reports poured in about their take-over bids in hall dormitories. If it were heeded earlier on, the situation wouldn't have perhaps come to this pass.
Not only have the BCL cadres gone after the rival student factions by forcing them out of the halls of residence, intra-cadre rifts are also playing out. What is dangerous is the magnitude of the phenomenon. Apparently, the BCL command structure has broken down and it devolves upon the AL to restore order within its student wing without delay.
We find it rather inexplicable that it is still not quite clear to the administration why the violent incidents continue to take place in spite of its instruction to the law enforcing agencies to take drastic action against the troublemakers. Even more intriguing is the statement that the government is still investigating. One would have hoped that it would have been very clear by now as to who is behind the current spate of campus unrest.
We understand that the central committee of the AL has called upon their cadres to stop violence but we cannot understand why the call has gone unheeded. We would hope that the PM's call to take strict action against all those responsible for perpetrating violence in the campus will be acted upon immediately, and the police would act firmly and impartially.
We feel that the change of political culture promised by the AL must also be reflected in the educational institutions. But the activities of the BCL in various campuses since the assumption of office by the AL have done very little to further the cause of change. What we have seen so far is not quite the type of behaviour we were prepared to witness. This is not quite the change we want to see, certainly not in the educational institutions.
However, we feel that the situation can be rolled back if the AL acts decisively to bring to book the troublemakers belonging to the BCL, and, along with other political parties, works towards restoring a congenial atmosphere in the educational institutions. In this regard the 22 point accord reached by the political parties and various other organisations of Rajshahi city to keep its educational institutions free from student unrest and other criminal activities may be worth emulating.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments