In the backdrop of killing of two university students in recent days, Vice Chancellors of some public universities on Sunday called upon the authorities concerned to ban teachers-students politics in the varsities to save the country’s seat of higher education from being critically destroyed. The call came from a meeting at Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University in the capital held under the auspices of Bangladesh University Parishad (BUP) at a time when such voices of patriotism, sanity and restraint are almost unheard and even unexpected although bloodshed and killings are rampant in the campuses under political cover. It is really heartening that some VCs have at last spoken the bitter truth and acknowledged the fact that dirty party politics is not only destroying the public varsities, their students are also getting killed as a sequel of campus politics. They have therefore demanded that such dirty teachers-students politics should be banned in the campus. We equally share their call and ask the government, the varsity authorities and the people in all walks of life to take the issue seriously and turn it into a campaign to save the public universities and life of their students before we can see many more such bloodsheds and loss of life in campuses which is almost a routine matter now. The report said the VCs took stock of the volatile situation after the killings of two students at Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU) and Rajshahi University (RU) last week where academic activities have almost come to the halt. The killings of the two Chhatra League (BCL) leaders took place reportedly in intra-party feuds. Reports said the VCs of Dinajpur Haji Danesh Science and Technology University, Prof M Ruhul Amin, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Prof Shadat Ullah, Shahjalal Science and Technology University Dr M Khairul Islam spoke on the occasion. It was also attended by the VCs of Noakhali University of Science and Technology and Comilla University of Science and Technology. Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) VC Dr M Rafiqul Haque was candid enough while blaming a section of varsity teachers for highly politicizing public universities using students in pretty small matters to turn the campuses into the battle grounds of control in line of the dirty national party politics. It is not only letting the image of the varsities destroyed in public eyes, students are also being maimed and killed in politically encouraged divisive fighting — be it among rival student fronts or in intra-party fights. He has therefore called upon the varsity authorities to turn the situation around by banning the campus politics. So far so good. But question arises whether or not such demands will also come from the VCs of Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Science and Technology (BUST) or the National University who sit at the heart of the capital and nurture ruling party politics to ensure government control over these institutions and students-teachers politics in their institutions. We believe, similar voices should also come from other public universities and public colleges to make it a national cause.The students are sent to universities to be under the care of the Vice-Chancellors and teachers. The parents do not want their children at universities to be recruited as mastaans of political parties. Their high hope is to get proper education for their children for a good life and better future. They put their faith in the VCs and the teachers. But when the VCs along with the teachers accept politicization to be party activists they forsake their high positions as teachers and VCs. The opposition should have come from the VCs and university teachers to save our future hope long ago. They broke their vow as teachers for their selfish benefits as party activists. The politicization has made incompetent ones easy recruits to be VCs and teachers in public universities. They also hope to get other advantages not as competent teachers but as party followers. The students as party activists are given political protection for their crimes of extortion and other illegalities. In short, the university students are not being helped to become national leaders in different spheres of our national life. To put it rudely and painfully our young ones are used as vandals and criminals wrecking their beautiful dreams of a proud future. Though it is quite late and a great deal of damage has already been done making the nation’s future fraught with darkness. We urge all the VCs and the university teachers to get together to unitedly refuse making the universities hot beds of unintellectual party muscle politics. They will get public support for saving the universities as places of intellectual activities. The universities have to be saved to be centers of learning higher values of human life. Our university students are hopes for better days. They should be leaders to cleanse anti-people corrupt politics. We are not saying that the university level students will not have sufficient political awareness about the state of politics in the country and do not act for the nation when politics goes against public interest. But they must not make them available to be used against their best interests and the best interests of the country. The public universities are directly financed from the people’s money. The varsity campuses must not remain places of violence and violent politics.
