Enough is enough
IF the news of the past two weeks was not enough to persuade us that so-called student politics should be banned without further ado, I do not know what will.
First came the heart-breaking story of Abubakr Siddique, a non-political third year DU student from an impoverished background, the first of his family to attend university.
Siddique died of head injuries last week after having had the extreme misfortune of finding himself in the midst of clashes between rival factions of the Chhatro League and the police who had been called in to quell the violence at his hall of residence.
Now comes the sickening news from Rajshahi University where Shibir activists went on a rampage this week that left one Chhatro League activist hacked to death, his body dumped down a man-hole, and scores more injured, included four who had had tendons in their hands and legs severed.
The reports coming from RU especially have turned everyone's stomach. We may have become a little jaded about campus violence over the years, but the brutality of the killing of Faruk Hossain, another meritorious student from a humble background, and the pictures of maimed Chhatro League activists trailing blood as they tried to drag themselves across the ground to safety has shocked the nation.
Enough, surely, is enough.
Frankly, I am tired of hearing people defend student politics by pointing to the glorious role played by students in 1952 and the run-up to 1971 and during the 1980s. That was then, this is now.
In the first place, we are no longer living under Pakistani colonial domination or martial law, when the only opposition to brutal and autocratic regimes could be mustered on university campuses.
When we live in a parliamentary democracy, there should be no need for political parties to rely on shock troops or for the issues of the day to be fought out on university campuses.
Let me ask this question: what good does student politics actually do in today's world. Please point me to one recent instance where the existence of student front groups has worked to the advantage of the nation.
Of course, student cadres are like nuclear weapons. The other side has theirs, so you have to have yours. That is why simultaneous disarmament of all political parties' student front organizations is the only solution.
It is true that student politics is only one piece of the greater problem of violence that is committed by political party cadres. As long as each political party keeps cadres of armed thugs as an integral part of maintaining their power and authority, the nation's political discourse will continue to be disfigured by violence.
But cleaning up the campuses is a good place to start. Turning our colleges and universities into politics-free zones is something which would be very popular with the public and would do more to benefit higher education in the country than any other measure.
If students wish to join a political party or a youth front, that is their business. But there is no reason why we cannot make public colleges and universities safe for ordinary students and ban any political activity or organizing on campus. Student politics is banned in private universities, without any ill-effects that I have noticed.
Let's get one thing straight. The political parties' student fronts are nothing more than criminal organisations. They illegally influence the admissions process, control the residence halls, and even corrupt the examination process.
It is a national disgrace that we have allowed so-called student politics to completely destroy the fabric of public education in the country.
Student politics, as it exists today, serves no useful purpose whatsoever. To the contrary, the corrosive impact it has had on our politics and our society, to say nothing of our higher education, is self-evident.
It is true that the Shibir are the most brutal of all the student front groups, with tendon severing a specialty of theirs, as they have amply demonstrated this past week.
But it would be quite incorrect to state that the other parties' student fronts are not also criminal organisations with an almost equally frightening record of violence.
Ultimately, it is the government which will benefit most from a ban on student politics. It will mean moving against its own student front organisations, which cannot be easy.
But, in the first place, polls have shown that the rampant criminality of their student front organisations is the government's Achilles heel. And the rout at RU has shown that when it comes to viciousness, the Chhatro League still must take a back seat to its rivals, specially the Shibir.
If the government were to ban student politics, clear out the musclemen and gangsters (almost all of whom are not even real students), and turn the campuses into violence-free zones, it would, at a stroke solve the problem of its own unruly student factions, ensure that the opposition could not use the campuses to launch anti-government agitations, and take a strong first step towards fixing our broken universities.
Such a move would be enormously popular with the public, as well. It would be win-win-win-win. What's not to like?
Zafar Sobhan is Editor, Editorial & Op-Ed, The Daily Star.
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