Editorial
Mayhem at Barisal Medical College
It is time for firm action against BCL elements
Despite severe warnings from the prime minister, despite all the expressions of outrage about their destructive activities, the unruly elements of the Chhatra League go on creating disorder and so causing public worries. This time it is Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College which has had to be shut down for an indefinite period because of the violence let loose on its campus by two factions of the BCL. One need hardly describe here the nature and dimensions of the violence for the simple reason that the pattern has been similar to what the cadres of the organisation have been doing elsewhere in the country. These activities by the BCL, centering around tenders and all other things that students are not expected to be involved with, have already led to the closure of a number of educational institutions. The irony is that at a time when its patron organisation, the Awami League, is in power, the BCL appears not to be unduly worried about the damage it is doing to a government led by individuals it considers its philosophical and political mentors.
The immediate cause of the trouble at Barisal Medical College is reportedly the abduction of a follower of one of the factions. If that is so, there was hardly any reason for the followers of the two factions to have taken the entire college hostage and precipitate a situation where it had to be shut down. An intriguing part of the sordid story is that the Barisal city BCL convener has said that SBMC BCL activities were suspended in the city a month ago and therefore the BCL does not bear any responsibility for the mayhem which has just occurred. Are we to suppose that merely because BCL activities are in suspension its workers have suddenly gone peaceful? In recent weeks we have noticed a tendency on the part of some to point to an 'infiltration' of BCL ranks by outsiders, the implication being that it is these outsiders and not BCL men who have been causing all the problems. That is tantamount to looking away from the issues. It is also a worrying example of people being in a state of denial. Such attitudes not only reveal the new dimensions of violence that are becoming clear to us; they also are a feeble attempt on the part of responsible quarters to wash their hands of everything bad that has been happening. It bodes ill for the future of education and with it that of the country as a whole.
The time has now arrived for firm, concrete and purposeful action to be taken against the lawless elements of the BCL. Since exhortations and reprimands, even from the prime minister, do not appear to have been heeded, let the law enforcers be instructed, in the interest of public peace, to take action. We simply have no choice.
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