Editorial
BCL's continuing violence
Government must act before its credibility is stripped away
The Bangladesh Chhatra League's internal feuds, which have led to several bloody clashes in the last 20 days, and its encounters with rival student organisations on university campuses, are a sad example of where students politics stands today.
The news is in itself cause for concern as a group of BCL activists are trying to establish their supremacy on the campuses by eliminating opposition from both within and outside. The greater worry, however, lies in the challenge that such activities might pose to the credibility of the newly elected grand alliance government led by the Awami League. The AL's promise of firmly dealing with all unruly elements is bound to sound hollow if its own student adherents are allowed to engage in vandalism and violence, that have already affected the academic life at the universities. The measures adopted by AL chief Sheikh Hasina in 2006 to give the BCL the real look of a student outfit cannot produce any results if professional goons and killers dominate the show. It is worth mentioning here that Hasina decided not to allow anybody above 29 years of age to remain involved with the BCL. This was done to ensure that only regular students remain associated with the BCL. But what we watch today appears to be something different.
The AL decision makers are reported to have been extremely annoyed with the BCL activities. They may soon dissolve the BCL central committee in their bid to rein in the activists who are apparently working on their own in the absence of any effective chain of command. Attempts are also being made to keep things under control at Jahangirnagar University through suspension of BCL activities for a month.
The expressions of concern by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet colleagues over what the BCL is now doing wouldn't themselves be enough. They have to realise that the situation calls for a pure law and order approach which requires that those committing culpable offences must be brought to justice. This is precisely where successive governments failed miserably in the past, as they could not maintain neutrality while dealing with their errant supporters. The AL-led government can set the right example now by taking an objective stance on and a surgical approach to the issue.
The AL is facing a crisis, but it is an opportunity as well for the party to prove that it is not only willing but also quite capable of clearing its folds of undesirable elements. It has to go for a reappraisal of the BCL issue and reconstitute the student units at all levels, leaving the troublemakers out.
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