Why this dismal state of DU on its 100th anniversary?

Dhaka University will commemorate its 100th anniversary on 1 July. The centennial celebrations kicked off with a webinar launched on 21 January by the prime minister. The centennial is certainly a milestone for anyone of the Dhaka University family. DU alumni have already started using some of the DU centennial logos as their Facebook profile pictures.

But there are other pictures too on the social media that do not depict such a pretty scene of the university. These are pictures of the verandas, roofs, auditoriums and libraries of the various halls of the university. Young people huddle together in the dirty unkempt 'gono rooms' or 'mass rooms'. These are not homeless people on the footpaths, slum dwellers or refugees. These are students of Dhaka University. This is the state of DU's residential halls in 2021.

There is no mention of the dishevelled faces of these students in the visionary speeches and grand plans being made about the university's centennial. There is talk about achieving the sustainable development goals and of building a university fit for the fourth industrial revolution. There are targets to improve education, research and publications. There are documentaries, cultural programme, poetry books and even news of a lavish international conference being organised in London. But there is no vision, no plan aiming at those for whom the university was established, nothing about their acute an inhuman accommodation crisis.

Dhaka University was established as a full-fledged residential university, but nothing was done to keep it this way. And ever since the 'restoration of democracy' in 1991, there has been a steady unplanned expansion of the university. Departments, institutes and the number of students have been almost doubled. In comparison, the expansion in accommodation facilities has far from met the requirements of the students.

The student organisations of the ruling party illegally control the management of the halls, grabbing the facilities for themselves, their leaders often staying on long after their studentship is over. Even outside cadres of the ruling party's student front occupy the halls. Meanwhile, the general students are relegated to the crowded 'gono rooms', sometimes even being forced to participate in violence to suppress different views and ideologies.

Even the students who stay in the normal rooms of the halls are not in a good state. Of the almost 36,000 students of the university, at least 24,000 come from outside of Dhaka. Yet at the most 6,000 can avail DU's accommodation facilities. Those who legitimately get accommodation facilities have to share their room with three or four others, who have been brought in by Chhatra League (by Chhatra Dal in the past). The students are compelled to join political programmes. There have been several instances where legitimate residential students have been accused of being Jamaat-Shibir activists, beaten up and evicted from the halls. This is how thousands of students, subjected to physical and mental oppression, are kept in subhuman circumstances in the hall rooms or the 'gono rooms'.

In the rooms, the environment is somewhat bearable. But the environment of the 'gono rooms' is unbearable. How can these students build themselves up for the future when they are to live like chickens in an overcrowded coop, with mosquitoes and bed bugs in the sweltering heat or shivering cold?

In my experience of teaching in the law department, I have seen an alarming rise the propensity among students of Dhaka University to fail in their exams, to skip their exams, to seek readmission on various excuses, to suffer from mental illness and to be misguided. How can they study, attend classes and do library work, overcoming the exhaustion of sleepless nights in the 'gono rooms', sleeping in shifts, disturbed sleep, being forced to attend programmes of the ruling coterie?

Much has been written in the newspapers about Dhaka University's ranking, the standard of education and research. Some of this is exaggerated, and efforts are being made to resolve certain issues. For example, if the standard of education at Dhaka University was not good, how are its students faring well in national and even international competitions.

It is also not wholly true that there is no research here. If online uploads and citations are increased, if there is networking with foreign universities and if an effort was made to bring in foreign teachers and students, the ranking of the university could easily be improved. The university administration has become sincere about this. But the basic requirement of the students is an environment conducive to their stay and studies. We do not see much sincerity in this regard.

The accommodation problems can be resolved to a great extent by certain simple measures. For example, like in foreign countries, priority can be given to first year students for accommodation. Unlike the senior students, they are not familiar with the new city and haven't found means of employment and their circle of acquaintances is also small. That is why until the accommodation crisis clears up, a policy can be adopted to ensure accommodation for all the new students in the halls and this policy can gradually be implemented. And the number of persons per room can be legitimately doubled. A room for two can be made a room for four (where now at least six are actually staying). Also, with efficient management of university funds, steps can be taken to build more halls.

Many of us have written about this issue in the past, but the university administration does not seem to have given this much importance. A huge amount of money is being spent on commemorating the 100 years of Dhaka University. But can we at least arrange an event to exchange views about the accommodation problems of the students? Can we have one extensive research on this?

Or will we celebrate the centennial, covering up the grimy, grubby look of the 'gono rooms' with the razzle-dazzle of webinars?

* Asif Nazrul is a professor of the law department at Dhaka University

* This column appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir