Courtesy New Age 18/1/09 Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee
The ruling Awami League has asked top leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League, its associate body, to go tough on activists involved in recent campus violence that forced closure of a few educational institutions, a leader of BCL told New Age.
The government has also asked the law enforcers to take action against troublemakers on the campuses without considering their political links.
BCL activists reportedly captured halls of residence in a number of universities and colleges across the country after the AL-led alliance’s victory in the December 29 national elections.
Activists of the BCL, who were ousted from different educational institutions after the BNP-led alliance had won the October 2001 polls, staged a comeback after the December 29 polls and engaged in violent clashes with their opponents both within the party and with rivals Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, associate body of BNP, and Islami Chhatra Shibir, associate body of Jamaat-e-Islami, to establish their dominance on the campuses.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Friday summoned Mahmud Hasan Ripon and Mahfuzul Haider Roton, president and general secretary respectively of the BCL, rebuked them for the incidents asking them to take organisational actions, including expulsion, against those who were involved in acts of sabotage.
Roton told New Age that the prime minister had directed them to take stern organisational steps against those who were involved in violence in educational institutions.
‘We will not tolerate any activities that could tarnish the image of the government and we have already sent directives to all [BCL] units in the educational institutions to show restraints,’ he said and warned that the organisation would take actions, including expulsion, against those who would get involved in violence.
State minister for home affairs Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj also told New Age the law enforcers had been asked to take stern actions against troublemakers on the campuses.
‘The prime minister considers that ensuring security of general students and teachers is the government’s moral duty for which the people have voted the Awami League to power,’ Taj said referring to Hasina adding that the government was committed to ensuring peace in educational institutions.
Addressing the BCL’s 61st founding anniversary programme through video conferencing on January 4, Hasina had asked activists of the BCL to have patience and try to establish politics of tolerance and cooperation. She urged them to avoid tit-for-tat actions in order to bring change in the political culture.
Meanwhile, fresh clashes erupted in different educational institutions across the country on Saturday over establishing dominance.
Two factions of Chhatra League on the day locked in clashes at
BCL and ICS activists clashed at
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