The Rajshahi University Vice Chancellor’s move to turn the varsity into a partly private coaching center to offer Masters’ degree to evening irregular candidates, neglecting regular class by a section of teachers has broken into a bloody fight at the end.
As the students resistance spread against the move along with protest against various fees hikes, the varsity authorities finally decided to end the strike using force on general students who were in fact agitating against it from January 16.
It appears that students and the vested interest group of teachers at the RU don’t share the common academic goals-teachers are after making extra money opening new private Masters’ courses while students are opposing it as illegal and immoral in a public university and to ensure teachers adequate attention to their regular courses. Consequently, at RU these teachers now take the students as their adversaries.
As the news report said around 100 students and eight journalists were wounded on Sunday in police firing and BCL men gunshots. Meanwhile, Rajshahi University has been closed for an indefinite period on Sunday evening and halls were vacated on Monday morning. The fatality took place as armed cadre of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the students’ wing of Awami League opened fire on general students on the campus to dismantle their protest. The injured included many female students.
The BCL men shootouts at general students virtually turned the campus into a battleground as the TV footage telecast showed it to the nation. Students have blamed the varsity authority for let losing the armed BCL men on them to end the strike as it was paralyzing the campus life including routine academic activities.
Almost a live terror movie unfolds on the TV screen as BCL men were firing on unarmed students holding the hand high in the air. Police were also simultaneously firing live bullets and tear gas on the students who were fleeing at any direction. Print media also published the footage of the police and BCL men in action. But we are bewildered to see that the university authorities and the government have already started blaming Shibirmen, belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami for the violence.
They said Shibirmen had mingled with the demonstrators and attacked the BCL men first only invite retaliatory action. Meanwhile BCL leaders have even denied the involvement of their cadre and disowned the photograph of their party men as it showed them shooting at students. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid has also blamed the Shibirmen to turn the event towards different direction.
Meanwhile, four cases have been filed so far at local police stations accusing over 500 general students while the BCL men who had shot at the students remained at large and out of criminal cases.
But the basic question remains as to why the general students have become so serious to engage in violent protests against the varsity authorities. The answer is equally scandalous. As news reports said the varsity authority raised the tuition and examination fees with other charges in December last taking the students by surprise. Many people tend to raise questions in the first place as to why the varsity management took the unilateral decision without taking various students’ groups into confidence. Moreover, allegations galore on misuse and misappropriation of university funds to agitate the students. The new move sparks their reaction. We believe it could have been avoided by holding discussions.
The other issue which were agitating students the most was the authorities move to convert the Rajshahi University into a partly private university by offering private Masters’ courses in the evening. They are running two such courses from 2010 and the varsity authority was working on a new move this time to offer Masters’ courses in seven more subjects under the Social science Faculty from this year.
Greedy teachers and the Vice Chancellor have developed the model in which the courses will be offered to private candidates against hefty tuition fees and the income will go entirely to teachers who will be taking classes, apart from some varsity bosses. They will be using the varsity classrooms and furniture but benefits will go to the individuals.
Experts hold the view that it is like private coaching and selling the university academic certificates to students whether or not they properly qualify for it at the year end. Rajshahi University students have meanwhile blamed the teachers for frequent missing of regular classes to take rest for evening courses.
This is a serious misuse a public university facility and neglect to mainstream teaching. But why one should only blame Rajshahi University for it. The Commerce Faculty of Dhaka University for instance is similarly using the facility offering evening courses earning hefty income to some fortunate teachers.
A close look into the practice shows high corruption, neglect to teaching and such other irregularities are in fact breaking the backbone of public universities. It is on rise under a similarly corrupt government promoting politicization at all levels.
