IT IS shocking that activists of the Chhatra League, the student of wing of the ruling Awami league, have tortured another first-year student in the University of Dhaka. The victim, a student of mass communication and journalism, could not attend a BCL programme in the guest room of the Bijay Ekattar Hall as he was ill. The victim in his complaint to the hall administration said that he was forced to look at the harsh light of the guest room until he fell unconscious and he identified the perpetrators as students affiliated to the Chhatra League. The provost described the incident as unfortunate and set off an investigation. The Progressive Students’ Alliance demanded action against the perpetrators and urged the authorities to address the root causes of the problem, which are the seat shortage and the Chhatra League control of seat distribution. Their claims are not wrong as general students are frequently harassed, intimidated and tortured for not following directives of Chhatra League leaders. The university administration, even the Dhaka University vice-chancellor, has time and again promised to improve the situation, but the recent incident says otherwise.

The situation in other public universities is no different. In most public universities, the halls and seat allocation are controlled by Chhatra League units. Dhaka University students complained that they were held hostage by Chhatra League leaders and activists amidst a seat shortage in halls. The university has 18 halls which can accommodate only 46 per cent of the total of 39,496 students. With a high living cost in Dhaka, many students said that they could not afford living outside the campus and needed to show their allegiance to the Chhatra League for seats in halls. In Chattogram University, a similar seat shortage persists where the university administration has not made any fresh allotment since 2017. A Chhatra League activist in Rajshahi University, as New Age reported on January 27, claimed that general students need to pay at least Tk 5,000–8,000 to Chhatra League leaders for hall seats. The provost and proctor are aware of their failure that they cannot allot rooms to students as some students occupy room for their organisations. The situation shows that university authorities, despite repeated calls from general students, have failed to take control of the hall administration.

The situation shows the Chatra League’s unbridled power and presents it as an anti-student force that has gone against its historical legacy of serving the purpose of students and the nation. The ruling party must discipline its student wing by abandoning its policy of using student demography as its muscle power. Similarly, university administrations too need to give up their partisan politics and make immediate intervention to ensure the safety of students and academic freedom in halls and on campus.