ATTACKS by the Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, on protesting students again at Barishal University on July 29 are deplorable. The attacks left at least 15 injured, nine of whom had to be sent to hospital. It was Chhatra League attacks on protesters on July 15 that forced a peaceful student movement into violence, which left at least 213 people dead, mostly in indiscriminate police firing, and thousands injured. On July 15, Chhatra League activists, assisted by law enforcers, attacked students at universities and in other places. The attacks even continued into the night on some campuses. Eventually, general students took to the streets in their hundreds and resisted the attacks. On July 16, Chhatra League leaders and activists, who were virtually shielded by law enforcers, fled campuses in all universities and colleges in the face of massive resistance by general and protesting students. In the next few days, the country saw a bloodbath as the law enforcement agencies indiscriminately shot at protesters. Chhatra League activists were also seen in some places attacking protesters with weapons and automatic firearms.
At a time like this, when all educational institutions have been closed to quell the protest and when the law enforcement agencies are continuing their drives against students and have arrested a few hundred students, including a number of protest coordinators, and accused them in cases of violence and vandalism and when no action has been taken against the Chhatra League activists or law enforcers responsible, the Chhatra League attack on an already aggrieved student community is a dangerous adventurism that paves the way for fresh conflicts. Such attacks also make it difficult for protesters to believe that the government intends to resolve the crisis and is willing to address their grievances. The attacks in Barishal and police high-handedness in other areas on July 29, when protesters took to the streets again to press home their nine-point demands, also suggest that the government intends to pursue its heavy-handed measure, disregarding the genuine grievances of the students. The demands include an unconditional apology from the prime minister by taking responsibility for the recent killings, the removal of certain ministers and their expulsion from the party, the sacking of law enforcers responsible for the killing and their trial, the release of all students and others. This beats logic that the government still does not heed the demands born out of the wounds that the government鈥檚 brutal response has created.
The government should, therefore, heed students鈥� demands, stop the wholesale arrest of students and opposition people and abandon high-handedness. Moreover, the Awami League that presides over the government must also restrain its student wing and bring those who attacked the students to justice.
