The attempt to ban student politics in university campuses, including Dhaka University, is undemocratic. The history of Bangladesh is inseparable from the significant role student politics has played. From the 1952 Language Movement to the 1962 Education Movement, the 1969 Mass Uprising, and the Liberation War of 1971, student politics has been at the forefront of every democratic movement. Progressive student organizations led these efforts. However, today, the blanket demand to ban all forms of student politics due to the actions of certain terrorist groups is completely unreasonable.

Since the 1990s, campuses have been dominated by terrorist and fundamentalist organizations, but the solution is not to ban student politics. Rather, it is essential to stop the violence and fundamentalism being carried out in the name of student politics. To combat this, a healthy practice of student politics must be promoted and encouraged. Progressive student organizations, such as the Student Union, should not be held responsible for the terrorist activities of a few extremist groups. For years, these progressive groups have been protesting against irregularities on campus and maintaining an idealistic and healthy political discourse.

Certain factions are using the emotions of ordinary students to implement their own agendas under the guise of banning student politics. However, students should stand up against these efforts.

On September 19, 2024, the Dhaka University syndicate decided to ban all forms of politics, including student politics, on campus. This decision comes in the wake of the murder that took place on campus just two days prior, on September 18. The administration’s silence on the murder is an attempt to cover up their failure by pushing for a depoliticization of the campus. While it was necessary to put an end to the terrorist activities being carried out in the name of student politics, the university administration has, in fact, been complicit in supporting such acts.

Two days ago, during the brutal murder of Tofazzal Hossain at Fazlul Haq Muslim Hall, both the university and hall administration remained silent. Now, to hide their own incompetence, they have decided to ban student politics. They are trying to shift the blame for their failures onto student politics. Forcefully depriving someone of their political rights is itself a fascist act. It is essential to ban the terrorist and fundamentalist organizations, not student politics as a whole.

Dipto Debnath Apu is a National Council Member of Bangladesh Student Union

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