Student movement: Are hopes too high?

Finally, July ended in Bangladesh! It was a month filled with immense bloodshed, violence and brutality which all stemmed from a basic demand from the students. The demand was to reform the discriminatory quota system in government jobs.

The government, ruling for the past 15 years, didn’t hesitate to launch a state-sponsored carnage to thwart the students’ voices. Yes, they did listen to the students’ demand for reforms, but only after there were corpses on the streets, right when Abu Sayeed’s dreams were shot down by the police, just after female students were harassed and mercilessly beaten on the DU campus by the  Chhatra League goons.

These continuous assaults made it very evident how ruthless the government could be. Eventually, the demonstrations over quota reform morphed into a movement seeking justice. But, there was hardly any ray of hope for justice from the ruling party as the leader, Sheikh Hasina, was more concerned about metro rail stations than human lives.

She met Abu Sayed’s family (28 July) right after she was done weeping for BTV (26 July). The drama continued, top government officials kept raving, and students were being arrested (I, too, faced an arrest threat just because I went to join the protest in Chattogram).

These all resulted in a revolt against the government.

A mass uprising rose up to topple Sheikh Hasina down. On 5 August, it was as if another 16 December 1971 (Victory Day of Bangladesh) emerged as Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled. The state was finally free from a fascist regime, yet the question remains how long would it be?

We don’t want our dreams to be shattered and sundered again. Let’s look at some of the rights for which we do not want to put our lives in peril.

We all were stressed about going to jail for writings or speeches critical of the government, or fear that there would be something like Abrar Fahad, a shining star from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), who was killed in pitiless beating by BCL men. His crime was posting something on Facebook that questioned the government.

The immediate past government of Awami League responded to criticism with an iron hand and strict measures. They initiated the Digital Security Act (DSA), currently Cyber Security Act (CSA), to legally throttle voices.

We, the students, used to criticise the government through memes that did not directly hold the name of the authorities responsible. “Helmet bahini” (gang of goons wearing helmets) or “Foodpanda” were some of the synonymous terms for Bangladesh Chhatra League. No one dared to talk about them in any open public sphere.

The ousted government created a culture of fear which largely boosted self-censorship in the media and in everyday talk. We do not want to put a backspace in our heads before we speak; we do not want to restructure a sentence so that it does not look like a harsh criticism, we do not want any Abrar Fahad incident any more. We want an end to harassment in the name of law.

This sounds like a farce that I am writing for the right to speak freely in 2024. Let’s hope we will have better satire to enjoy in the days ahead... without being oppressed.

Student politics in the last few years slumped to its worst. Extortion, mugging, robbery, seizing the students’ dorms, shutting dissent down, killing - name any atrocious activity, and the BCL men were involved. Instead of facing lawsuits, they received bigger rewards for bigger crimes. The Daily Star on 7 September 2022 clearly portrayed the epic saga.

As we grew up in the Awami League tenures, we witnessed most of the terror activities from their students’ political wing albeit their main motto being “Education, Peace and Progress”. Previous political parties when they were in power too used their student wing as a power to grasp their slice of the cake.

Student politics on the campuses has imposed a big question mark in the post-independence period. Yes, students can take part in political activities but misusing the power in the campuses or anywhere must not continue.

The teachers too must restrain themselves from heinous political practices. Would it be too arduous for them to ensure a sound ambience in our educational arenas, especially in the universities?

Currently, I am 22 and I still wonder what it feels like to vote. There have been three elections in the last 15 years. Political satirists love calling the last two polls a “selection” instead of calling them "election" due to massive rigging. I was legally eligible to vote in the last 2024 poll. But, my votes and my opinion didn’t matter as we all knew the Awami League would be in power again.

Hundreds of thousands are already in their 30s and don’t know what a free and fair election looks like. It sounded like a legend even last month, but we are dreaming now of casting our vote for the party that we like, dreaming for a Bangladesh that truly holds the spirit of the Liberation War - equality, human dignity and justice.

* Tahasin B Chowdhury is a student of University of Dhaka