Recent incident at Dhaka University is very disturbing. We do not know the trigger cause of the incident. It is wrong to beat-up students by the law enforcement authority without allowing them fair hearing and trial. Equally, it is wrong for the student body to react with violence. When our students are going to learn to protest injustice in a peaceful manner without taking up law in their own hands. I am very concerned about the student behavior of some of the elements of our public universities.

Politicians have misused them as their instruments of power wielding. Students also feel that they are a special chosen class and privileged class of the society and they can take the law in their hands whenever a little bit of injustice is done to them. They do not realize how lucky they are to be a selected few to attend universities who were supported by the meager resource of this poor nation. Instead of using their energy and intellect to be equipped well to serve our nation, they try to bring chaos and anarchy to our campuses and as a consequence bring misery to the whole nation.

Again I am not collectively blaming all students; it is always a few who incite the general student body to follow their destructive path of bringing chaos and anarchy in our campuses. They should realize that how lucky they are to receive college education almost free. They should survey the world and see how much money it takes to receive a Bachelor’s degree in the developed nations. Please shun the path of destruction and learn to mind your business which is getting the best education while your are in the business of education. You have a noble purpose and role in building this nation in a competitive world. Look next door at India and find out how far their Institutions of higher learning have advanced. Their students are competing with major western universities. They donot offer themselves to be used by the politicians. Please learn to protest injustice using peaceful means. Forget about the days when some of you brought havoc to our academic environment. You have ruined our famous universities. Our professors in absence of challenge from their students have become very very outdated; they need to be academically challenged by their students in their subject areas to keep them on the edge. Wake up; millions of poor underfed faces are looking up to you for a better future. It is a new era for Bangladesh with the corrupts in jail, their rightful destination. Do not always make destructive criticism.

Be an example of an educated person of honesty, integrity and hard work and a role model of decency and help this poor nation move forward. Make the public educational Institution of this nation as a symbol of pride for its people. That’s the only way you can pay off the debt that you owe to the millions of poverty ridden citizen of this nation who bears the financial burden for your education.

Shazib Chowdhury,PhD, USA