THE government of the Bangladesh National Party appears non-committal about containing violence in educational institutions. Mymensingh Medical College on April 18 postponed all classes and examinations for a week and asked students to vacate hostels after a clash between two factions of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the ruling party. The clash broke out over motorcycle refuelling which left at least two severely injured. At the time of violence, a 61st batch student was detained and taken into custody and while leaving the hostels, he was struck in the head with a hammer in the presence of the police. He sustained serious injuries and is reported to be in critical condition at the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in Dhaka. The college authorities institute a committee to investigate the violence and sought the submission of the report in seven working days. In another factional clash of the Chhatra Dal at Kabi Nazrul College in Dhaka on April 15, two journalists were injured. The incidents are a troubling repeat of the notorious conduct linked to the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the deposed Awami League.
There are other allegations of extortion, illegal occupation and intimidation against the student and the youth wing of the ruling party. Since the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024, many of their offices have been either burnt and vandalised or taken over by the BNP people. Allegations have recently been levelled against a leader of the Pabna Government Edward College unit Chhatra Dal of extorting money from temporary stalls set up on the college premises during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations. In March, local people of Muradnagar in Cumilla brought out a procession against a local Chhatra Dal leader, alleging his involvement in various unethical activities in the area. On March 1, an activist of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was killed and six others were injured in clashes between Jamaat and BNP activists in Chuadanga. In February, a Transparency International Bangladesh report said that 91.7 per cent of political violence incidents after the fall of the Awami League government were linked to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The incidents of violence, extortion and the illegal occupation of property and businesses suggest a return to the political culture that the deposed Awami League relied on to sustain its authoritarian rule, rather than a departure from it. This is also a departure from the ruling party’s electoral pledge of freeing political culture free of corruption and violence.
The government should, therefore, ensure strict legal action against anyone involved in violence and extortion, regardless of political affiliation. It must recognise that occasional disciplinary steps are insufficient and adopt a firm stance against the use of violence in educational institutions for partisan control.
