IT is indeed an outrageous thing that public university students had to come to the street to recover their residences from grabbers. But, what happened with Jagannath University did not stop there. While protesting, students were brutally tortured by the police. Rather than taking any real steps of recovery, the government seems to be employing muscle strategies to crush the legitimate protests by the students and teachers of the university.
The tale of Jagannath University residential halls “take over” goes back to the middle of the 1980s’. Ten of 12 hostels of Jagannath University, where students of Jagannath College used to stay before it became a full university fell into influential individuals hands.
Various quarters such as lawmakers, politicians, police families and businessmen have occupied the 10 halls, which gradually spurred the students to come into the streets to reclaim them.
Students and teachers used manifold ways to make their voices heard. Recently, students and teachers of the university boycotted classes and formed human chains at the National Press Club. At least 150 students were injured at a clash last week when JnU students clashed with the police for more than five hours after they had been banned from barricading one of the illegally occupied halls of JnU.
It is true that in some cases the protests by the students crossed the limit of civil engagement. An English daily reported that the students had took possession of a piece of land owned by Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Limited and vandalized its properties beside the university and declared it as the teachers students centre of the university. The agitated students, also besieged Bangladesh Bank’s Sadarghat branch situated on the campus of Jagannath University asking Bangladesh Bank to hand over the land to the university, on the same day. At one stage they put up a banner in front of the bank gate naming it ‘Bangabandhu Academic Bhaban’, in the place of Bangladesh Bank.
The situation is an absolutely anarchic one. One anarchy cannot justify the initiation of another one. With the exponential rise of the number of the students over the decades it is high time to reclaim JnU halls as soon as possible. Public university students get admission into university on the basis of merits. The state machinery allows anyone to study in public universities as long as her or his merit permits regardless of other factors.We can’t deny them their legitimate rights to stay in hostels.
The government must initiate effective steps for the resolution of the legal twists that seem to be at the core of the impasse, and should not take the overused strategy of riding out the storm waiting that it will cool down soon and go along as it was going.
