PM asks lawmen to go tough on campus violence
Hasina steps down as organisational leader of Chhatra League
Courtesy New Age 5/4/09 Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Saturday asked the law enforcement agencies to go tough on the people, including Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders and activists, who are involved in violence in educational institutions and stepped down as the organisational leader of the Awami League’s associate body of students.
‘Extortion, factional feud and violence centring on tender bidding are no organisational acts. They are criminal acts. So the law enforcement agencies should take stern action on criminal charges against the culprits who are responsible for campus violence,’ the ruling Awami League spokesperson, Syed Ashraful Islam, quoted Hasina as saying.
A crackdown against the ongoing campus violence begins now and the authorities concerned have been directed in this regard, Ashraful, also the LGRD and cooperatives minister, said briefing newsmen after an emergency meeting of the party presidium, chaired by the party president, Hasina, in her political office at Dhanmondi.
After the Awami League had assumed office in January, two student leaders were killed, more than 1,000 students injured and about 25 educational institutions were closed over clashes by and within the Chhatra League.
The Chhatra League activists clashed with rivals within the organisation or outside for stranglehold on the campus and in residence halls.
Ashraful said Hasina had stepped down as the organisational leader of the Chhatra League as she was not interested in discharging her duties in the capacity.
In reply to a question, he, however, said Chhatra League activists in many cases were also involved in campus violence and the present weakness in top leadership of the organisation was responsible in this connection to some extent.
Sources attending the meeting said Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim proposed to suspend the activities of Chhatra League for three months. But other presidium members attending the meeting protested at the proposal and said they were all in favour of student politics.
They rather said they should find out the cause of campus violence, a presidium member told New Age.
Most presidium members observed involvement of students in tender business was one of the major causes of campus violence and they were in favour of putting in place a system for tender bidding in several points in educational institutions which might help in avoiding campus violence, meeting insiders said.
The presidium meeting also urged other leadership of other parties to stop their associate bodies of students from getting into campus violence.
Ashraful said the party was changing its constitution to meet the criteria of the Representation of the People Order and the party would not retain any front organisations.
He said the by-elections to seven constituencies were held in a free and fair manner and said it had proved that the Election Commission could work independently under the government of the Awami League.
Ashraful also said they had submitted a 27-page document on the party’s expenses for the December 29, 2008 elections to the Election Commission.
Presidium members Syeda
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