Editorial
BCL leaders' pressure on PM
They are accountable for their cadres' behaviour
THERE is an element of disingenuousness in the 'threat' of the Chattra League (BCL) leaders to quit their posts if the PM did not rescind her decision to disassociate herself with the AL's students' wing. The demand has been made in the wake of the PM's decision not to continue as the head of the AL's student wing after what can best be described as the most unruly behaviour of some of the BCL cadres ever since the AL led Grand Alliance assumed the reins of the government. Although she ought to have done more, we feel that the PM's decision has had some effect on the BCL leadership.
And that leads us to ask why the BCL central leaders did not react so long and rein in the thugs and the gangster in their cadres? Their failure, or inability to do so, we consider, is an abdication of their primary responsibility, which is to ensure peaceful atmosphere in the campus. The only logical surmise is that some of them may well have acquiesced in what was perpetrated by some of their party men.
What the BCL leaders have perhaps overlooked is the fact that they are answerable for the behaviour of their party cadres, and if the AL wants to see an orderly conduct of the students' wing in future, and restoration of peaceful atmosphere in the universities and colleges then it must hold the BCL leadership to account for all that has happened in the many educational institutions in the country in the last few months.
The BCL central leaders must also appreciate that the general students in particular, and the people in general, have had enough of their antics; their demand is seemingly an attempt to exploit emotions, and their promise to restore the Chattra League to previous glory sounds less than credible until proven otherwise.
The relinquishment of the PM responsibility as the head of BCL has not come a day too soon. We feel that it should have been done long ago, at least when she assumed the responsibility of the prime minister. The idea of the head of the government being head of one of the appendages of the party she happens to head, does not go down well with most people.
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