Editorial
Student organisations
Should live up to their past glories
In our country, student parties are heir to a rich heritage they could justly be proud of. They have been at the vanguard of people's movements for establishing their rights to language, economic emancipation and political freedom. Against that glorious background, the student parties should organise and try to conduct themselves in ways that helps democracy and not harms it. That which meets the high expectations the people have of them as the most conscious segment of society.
Over time student bodies have undergone transformations, some of which have been far from salubrious. Campus atmosphere has seen turf wars between the student body aligned to the ruling party and that of the opposition. A third dimension has come forth with factions within student parties, more so in that which is associated with the ruling party. Against this backdrop, the question of student party leaderships being retained by old guards beyond the stated tenure of central committees has been common enough of a phenomenon.
For our part, we question the competence of organisations which exceed their deadline of forming new committees by years. More importantly, we express concern over the supposed democratic practices within such organisations. Leaders becoming possessive about their positions is an unfortunate characteristic of our politics, from the student to the national level. In order to change our ailing political culture, we must strike it at the roots.
Thus, we urge the top echelons of the parties and student organisations to take the matter of student participation and committees very seriously. The BCL should form a new committee without further ado, while student organisations in general should abide by organisational constitutions and regulations and encourage fresh leadership. Undemocratic practices within supposedly democratic parties, which form the basis for future national leadership, do not bode well for a democratic nation.
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