During the last couple of days we have been witnessing on the Bangladesh TV channels and print media the abominable scenes of monstrous riots of unruly students at the Dhaka University and elsewhere in Bangladesh. Some people, especially with embedded political minds, are so much elated by this anarchistic activities of the students as they are adding spices to the expectation of the unscrupulous politicians who would love to see the current CTG defeated of its strong clamp-down on their putrid politics that was so far aimed at amassing and maximizing unlawful wealth for persons, families and parties as opposed to achieving lawful national development goals.

The students have demonstrated their heinous lawlessness in the same way as their political masters have been doing throughout the last three decades in the liberated country following the same legacy of public agitation against the colonial masters in the past. Being so much disgruntled by the CTG’s stern actions against corruptions and crimes that have inevitably crippled the country, the reeking politicians are taking advantage of this situation to prove unpopularity of the CTG.

Let us set aside the issue of popularity or unpopularity of the CTG. Let us find a satisfactory answer to the single-most question whether - no matter what - university students should be violent at all and take the law in their hands to vandalize the national property in the name of protest??? If we support this, we are not teaching them to adopt lawful recourse against any illegal action, if at all that is illegal. We rather support their illegal action against the law enforcing authorities. We should not be forgetful that students are sent to universities for education and not for anything else. The students are the hope of the nation; future leaders of the nation; torch-bearer of the nation.

Imagine how much of the national wealth are spent (whether coming from the public resources, i.e. from the government or from the parents’ pockets) for the students to build their lives. Can we find a single example of any other universities in the civilized nations where students give up studies, fight for postponement of exams, riot in the street and destroy national property and yet some teachers shamelessly and of course proudly support their action?

This is the catastrophic result of the bigotry of student’ and teachers’ proactive involvement in national politics which has thus far been capitalized by the reeking politicians in support of their vested interest agenda at the cost of the country’s peace, harmony, solidarity and progress for which the country has paid so much and ultimately achieved its independence through a bloody war in 1971. I believe there can be no worse sign of a country plunging into the slippery-slope of retrogression than this if tolerated to continue any further.


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The writer is current working as Legal Advisor to the Government of Qatar at Qatar Investment Authority. Earlier he served the multilateral development financing institution IDB. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
E mail : wohid@gqic.gov.qa