Editorial Newe Age 1/12/10
Endangering students for partisan purpose unacceptable
THE allegation that the authorities of some schools in the capital forced students to take part in human chains formed on important city roads against hartal (general strike) on Monday, at the behest of some Awami League lawmakers, is a poignant pointer on how far the ruling party is willing to go, or how low it is willing to stoop, however one may choose to look at it, to protect and promote its partisan interest. According to a report front-paged in New Age on Tuesday, some teachers alleged that `all teachers and students were instructed strictly on the previous day [Sunday] to attend the human chain' while some students claimed that they had to skip regular classes to join the programme, in the course of which they `had to stand in the sun for over an hour' and some of them `fell sick'. The teachers also alleged that the AL lawmakers had instructed these schools to remain open during Tuesday's dawn-to-dusk general strike called and observed by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The allegation not only underlines the ruling party's desperation to demonise and denigrate the opposition party but also betrays its double standards. It is pertinent to recall that the AL-led government has recently finalised the draft National Child Policy 2010, which prohibited the use of children in political activities, and that the state minister for women and children affairs at a news briefing on September 15 said the policy would put an embargo on the use of children, in processions, picketing and other political activities. Moreover, the prime minister, when inaugurating the World Child Rights Week 2010 and Universal Children's Day on October 4, articulated her government's plan to prevent the use of children for political purpose, which, given the culture of violence and vandalism in politics, may have been won her appreciation from sections of society. However, it now seems that those were mere political rhetoric, as the ruling party appears unhesitant to use children as long as it promises to serve its parochial partisan interest.
Forcing the students to take part in a human chain and then attend classes during a general strike tends also to betray the ruling party's indifference to the inconvenience of the boys and girls in question on the one hand and its general disregard for the safety and security of the people at large on the other. Given the prevailing culture of violence and vandalism in politics, these students were, in fact, wilfully exposed to physical harm. It is simply unacceptable; as the president of the Bangladesh Teachers Employers United Alliance claimed, the AL-led government may have outdone the previous administrations in this regard.
Be that as it may, the education minister's assertion that `action would be taken against the institutions if they have forced students to join the human chain' is assuring but not enough. Allegations have it that some ruling party lawmakers forced the school authorities into making the student join the human chain programme. If true, these lawmakers need also be called to account. Overall, the ruling party as well as the government has some explaining to do, to the people.
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