Monday | 7 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Monday | 7 October 2024 | Epaper

In My View

Bangladesh sees a disturbing rise of some female students as gangsters

Published : Friday, 3 March, 2023 at 12:00 AM  Count : 497
Syed Badiuzzaman
The Daily Observer, a pro-government newspaper, has made its mark as an unbiased and respected media organization by publishing news for the last few days this week about an alleged torture of a resident female student of Islamic University by a group of fellow students belonging to Bangladesh Chhatra (student) League or BCL, also a pro-government organization.

The daily that published that shocking news received praise from many readers at home and abroad because it took a bold stand by going ahead to circulate such a heinous act by some female students against another female student and uphold journalistic integrity. Undoubtedly, it was important news and thus it deserved to be printed in all real newspapers of the country regardless of their leaning toward political parties and ideologies.

First I couldn�t believe the incident. I thought it was impossible for a group of female Bangladeshi students to physically assault and humiliate another fellow student of the same university. But later I found it was real; the ugly incident did take place at a residential hall of the Islamic University. And for covering that incident in details, my kudos to the Daily Observer staff and especially its editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdury, who has been a career journalist all his life.

Let us now take a look at the news under discussion here and then we will go for its postmortem. On the night of February 12, a first-year female student of the university was allegedly �tortured and humiliated� by the vice-president of the Islamic University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra (student) League or BCL and her four other associates. The victim said that the BCL leader also threatened her that they would release a video on social media if she disclosed the matter to anyone.

People came to know about the alleged crime and blackmail after the victim left her university dorm and divulged the ugly incident to other senior students and family members. On February 14, she filed a formal complaint with the university authorities including the proctor, the student advisor and the provost of the hall demanding punishment to those who tortured and humiliated her. The university authorities then formed two committees to investigate the incident and they submitted their report on February 26.

As the university authorities found the involvement of the BCL activists in the physical attack upon the female student, they expelled the vice-president of the Islamic University unit of BCL and her four other associates on February 27 from the university dormitory where the alleged incident took place. The expulsion of the BCL activists from the residential hall followed an emergency meeting of the hall administration which was presided over by the provost of the dormitory.   

But the scandal wasn�t over within the campus of the Islamic University. An ex-student of the institute escalated it by filing a writ petition with Bangladesh High Court in connection with the matter. And in response to an order from the top court of the country on February 20, Kushtia district administration, under whose jurisdiction the university is located, formed a three-member inquiry committee led by an additional district magistrate and asked it to submit its report within a week.

The inquiry committee found that the female student was �brutally tortured� inside her dormitory room and the university authorities failed to act. Deputy Attorney General Tusher Kanti Roy placed the report of the committee before a High Court bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik-al-Jalil on Tuesday, the Daily Observer reported. According to the paper, the enquiry committee found involvement of six female students in the incident and the provost and house tutor of the dormitory �totally failed to perform their responsibilities.�

The proctor of the Islamic University also showed negligence in discharging his duties, alleged the judicial enquiry committee report. Giving a detailed account of the incident, the report said that after being tortured the victim was forced by the group leader to make a promise that she would never disclose anything to anybody. According to the Daily Observer, the BCL activists went inside the victim�s room and reportedly assaulted and tortured her and also forced her to get naked while they video recorded the incident on their mobile phone.

And such an ugly incident occurred at Deshratna (jewel of the country) Sheikh Hasina Hall named after the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. It was this dormitory where a female student�s room was turned into a torture cell for some time on the night of February 12 as reported by the victim. But the five BCL activists including the vice-president of the Islamic University unit of the organization who directly or indirectly participated in the crime never bothered about the reputation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is also the head of the government of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Chhatra (student) League or BCL is the student front of the ruling Awami League party headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. When just one member of the BCL or a group gets involved in a criminal activity, they cause enormous harm not only to the reputation of their own student body but also to the image of the current governing party -- Awami League. And this is not the first time the BCL activists were allegedly involved in criminal activities. There were also reports of their involvement in similar activities in the country in the past.

We too did Chhatra (student) League many years ago when the current BCL members were not even born. The Daily Observer editor also did Chhatra (student) League when he was a student at the university. But while we did student politics in those days, we were way too polite, sensible and always willing to help other students in every possible way. We were never involved in any kind of even minor criminal activity. During our times, crimes were mostly committed by the members of National Student Federation or NSF directly patronized by Gen. Ayub Khan and Monem Khan, who governed whole or a part of Pakistan.

While vast majority members of Bangladesh Chhatra (student) League or BCL are gentle, judicious and peace-loving, there are few bad apples within the group who should be identified and kicked out of the organization. This step is necessary to restore the reputation of both Chhatra (student) League as well as Awami League. Nowadays a disturbing trend is emerging on campuses in Bangladesh. In the past, some male student activists were found to be involved in criminal activities as reported by the media. But currently some female students have also started committing various crimes together.

Both Chhatra (student) League and Awami League should not hesitate to take stern measures against any member of either organization who commits any kind of crime and causes harm to their reputation built painstakingly over decades. These criminals are no asset, make no mistake. They are, in fact, a huge liability for both organizations. And the government must make sure that those who committed the heinous acts at Sheikh Hasina Hall are not just expelled from the campus but also prosecuted to the full extent of the law so that resident students across the country can feel safe in their dormitories.

-    The writer is a Toronto-based journalist who also writes for the Toronto Sun as a guest columnist



LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Are we prepped to face climate change?
Big push for Bangladesh to adapt to changing climate  
The unraveling of military rule in Myanmar
How to win an argument
Recognise Pakistans 1971 atrocities as genocide
Its time we diversified our export trade
Stop ecocide to gain green economy
Conservation of our wildlife is a must
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝