THE proposition to ban student politics in universities is ahistorical and not only disregards the glorious contributions of student politics in the country鈥檚 history but also seeks to rob students of their democratic voice. While such a proposition has long been put forward by a section of people, the controversy surrounding student politics appears to have resurfaced following the political changeover in August 2024. Recently, a section of students and student organisations affiliated with different political parties at the University of Dhaka engaged in heated debates on the issue after the authorities banned student politics in halls of residence on the night of August 8. The decision apparently came after the Dhaka University unit of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, announced its new convening committees for 18 residential halls of the university. The decision was met with mixed reactions, with some organisations welcoming it and others rejecting it. Some organisations also alleged that certain student organisations, especially those affiliated with right-wing political parties, have been running covert and clandestine activities in halls of residence. The authorities, on August 10, held dialogues with different student organisations, without reaching any consensus.
What is problematic in the whole debate is that it denies the political agency of the students, who were at the forefront of all democratic movements in the country, including the Language Movement in 1952, the 1969 mass uprising, the Liberation War, the 1990 mass uprising and the July Uprising of 2024. The proposition to ban student politics is a reactionary one, not a carefully conceived political proposition. Such a reactionary stance has largely arisen from the criminal activities of ruling party student activists in the past, which became particularly vicious and disrupted the academic environment during the authoritarian Awami League regime. Campus violence and the tyranny of ruling party student leaders became causes of concern for students and their guardians. In all public universities, seat allotment in the halls of residence was completely controlled by the Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League, while its leaders and activists were involved in extortion, murder and even rape. It is understandable that there is a fear among many students and guardians that such a scenario might recur in the future. Even then, the proposition to ban student politics is unfounded as it is a reaction against criminal activities, not political activities.
The university administration and the students should, therefore, mobilise to restore democratically elected student unions and raise their voices against criminal activities and politics pursued for partisan and personal gains on campus. The sooner the students realise that banning politics amounts to further silencing their voice, the better.
