Student politics at a crossroads

Academics, former student leaders and politicians said that the student politics was past its days of glory and was now standing at crossroads.

They were of the opinion that political activism had now been pushed aside to give salience to the politics of pursuing a narrow political and even personal agenda.

Some said that the previous zeal of the student leaders to work and sacrifice for the cause of students and the nation had now been replaced by the pursuit of money and to establish political supremacy over the opponents.

Many blamed absence of democratic practices, not holding central student union elections in public universities and colleges for decades, appointing teachers and administrative officials in educational institutions considering political clouts and overlooking the achievements of their academic career, erosion of ideals and moral values, self-centredness, greed and blind support to the national political parties irrespective of ideologies.

Besides, the issue of allegiance is also connected to the issue of political ambition of the incumbent to expand their ambit of influence by using the student leaders in educational institutions.

Concurrently, student political leaders, in their pursuit of power resort to corruption to continue to remain at the helm.

By mirroring the political intolerance of the incumbent, student leaders across  the nation leave little room for democratic practices at the educational institutions. As some opposition leaders have mentioned that in absence of democracy, student leadership could not thrive.  

In retrospect, many national-level leaders of both the ruling party and the opposition are of the opinion that lack of space for democratic practices, prevalence of arms and money in student politics have tainted the past glory of student politics.

They further said that there was this moral high ground the student leaders willingly occupied and an academic atmosphere for which they could wage movements to protect their mother language in 1952, organise the education movement in 1962, could be at the forefront of the six-point movement in 1966, fight for establish people’s democratic rights in 1969 and lead the nation during the Liberation War in 1971.

Even after the independence of the country, anti-autocracy movements of the 1980s and early 1990s, in which the student communities always lent a hand to protect people’s right and restore democracy from the clutches of autocracy or extra-constitutional forces.

University and college students in those days were highly regarded by the people for their patriotism, commitment to the causes they were fighting for and the great sacrifices they were making for the nation.

But, unfortunately, they said, after the 1990 mass uprising through which army autocrat government fell and ‘democratic government’ through elections began functioning, a gradual degradation in student politics was noticed. The student groups in the fold of different political parties began to blindly towing their respective party lines.

They said, right now, student politics were not regulated from within the student bodies. Rather, the leaders who were at the helm were not elected by members democratically to lead their own organisations. Rather the leaderships were nominated by the chiefs or high-ups of the national political parties they were part of, observed the leaders.

Besides, for about past two decades, it became obvious that the ruling party student organisations practiced a culture of non-coexistence in campuses. They ousted their opposition student organisations even with the help of administration and law enforcement agencies, observed the leaders.

Not a single educational institution, especially public universities and colleges, would be found where the ruling parties’ student organisation and opposition parties’ student organisations co-existed, they said, adding that the ruling party’s student organisation only served the purpose of the government which was often anti-people.

They said that under the clouts of the central leaders, student leaders were now engaged in tender bidding, extortion, toll collection, partisan recruitment in government and non-government organisations, admission trade, control of dormitory seats, mostly by establishing a nexus with the administration.

In an unexpected turn of event, prime minister and ruling Awami League president Sheikh Hasina removed Bangladesh Chhatra League president Rezwanul Haque Chowdhury and general secretary Golam Rabbani on allegation of corruption, demanding toll and anti-organisational activities.

According to media reports, they allegedly demanded 6 per cent commission to Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor as ‘fair share’ from a mega project to be implemented there. It was also alleged that local BCL leaders took Tk 1 crore from the project’s contractor with the help of the university administration.

‘It is now clear that though there is no students’ association in the public universities and colleges, activists and supporters of government’s student organisation are staying there. Their presence is overwhelming and they don’t allow others in the campuses. They have no accountability to students or people. They think that they are members of government organisation, they can do what they wish and the administration often help them,’ Dhaka University professor emeritus Serajul Islam Chowdhury said.

‘Another major reason is that our universities and colleges have no central students’ union. As a result, none is found to challenge the culprits. If there was elected representatives, they would have accountability to the students and they could challenge the irregularities. Where there is central students’ union, academic atmosphere prevails there,’ he observed.

The veteran teacher said, ‘Where there were no central students’ union, torture on students, sexual harassment, exercise of muscle power, exchange of money are common there and academic atmosphere also totally collapse on such campuses.’

If the central students’ union elections were held regularly and on an annual basis, talented students could emerge as student leaders. They could contribute to healthy and sound cultural activities on the campuses,’ he said.

Presently, he said, appointment in the educational institutions was given on political consideration, not as per their academic role. ‘If a man of top academic career is appointed to a university, he or she would be a role model for students — both academically and culturally.’

Besides, the veteran public intellectual said that the student organisations of different political parties now did not represent students. ‘They have become part of the parties they follow. Thus their separate identities are not noticed as if they are organs of the respective political parties. As a result, they only chant slogans of the party leaders,’ he concluded.

Tofail Ahmed, ruling Awmai League advisory council member and former DUCSU vice-president, said that a distance between a political party and its student associate body should be maintained to ensure a check and balance of power and curb the misuse of power.

All the student organisations should have a unity and positive intention to help each other and there should be co-existence of all active student organisations on the campuses, he said.

The student leaders should also remain alert of the allegations of corruptions to distant themselves from such negative issues since such allegations easily tarnished the image of the student body as well as the educational institution, he added.

Dhaka University’s former vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique said that it was expected that in universities student would do ‘ideal politics’.

‘With heavy heart currently we observe a deviation from the ideology by the leaders of different student political organisations,’ he said, adding that many students in grassroots level were doing politics to grab the opportunities to augment their income.

‘The leaders of these student political bodies have to rectify themselves,’ he said, adding that the teachers were put to shame when the recent the incident of corruption took place at Jahangirnagar University.

‘Sometimes we see that the administrations at different universities misuse student bodies for its own interest and then the students try to take some sort of advantage in return,’ he said.

Corruption was not only persisting in the universities but also in every sector, he said.

‘Educational institutions are “holy places”. Students should do politics for the development of the universities. But, instead, nowadays, they obstruct these works for money, which is very unfortunate,’ he added.

Workers Party of Bangladesh president and DUCSU VP in 1963-64 session Rashed Khan Menon said that the student organisations should have their independent identity and should not work as a front organisation of any political party.

He was of the opinion that the student organisations of the ruling parties were being used as weapons to remain in power.

He lamented the facts that now student politics lost its old glory and student leaders were now involved in earning money through extortions to become wealthy within a few years.

Echoing Menon, Mahfuza Khanam, who was elected DUCSU VP for 1967-68, stressed the need for regular elections to the central students’ unions in all the campuses to ensure a positive educational environment.

Besides, she said, the political parties, educational institutions as well as the parents have to play their respective roles in developing the student leaders’ moral character to restore the past glory of student politics.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net