THE North South University incident of May 10th of a non-violent protest being dealt with police batons and tear gas is symptomatic of a larger problem that has permeated our entire society — lack of adequate mechanism to voice grievances and unjust reaction by those in power when grievances do get raised.
However, on certain occasions, exceptions occur and some people raise their voices against what they believe is blatant injustice. Due to lack of existing mechanisms, they use means that have worked in most democratic countries. They protest using non-violent means, sometimes in peaceful manners such as human chains, at other times in not-so-peaceful ways such as blocking of roads and highways and creating public hazards to get attention.
Mridul Chowdhury of Drishtipat Writers’ Collective wrote at the Daily Star on 13 May. The full article is here.
Mridul suggested:
If there had been a student government in place at NSU today, this entire process could have been handled much more respectfully and peacefully.
This led to a conversation among UV bloggers, which is presented over the fold. Meanwhile, NSU has gone back to old fee structure for existing students.
Jyoti:
Not having done post-secondary education in Bangladesh, I find it amazing how a politicised people like us have gone without student activism for nearly two generations now (generation in the cultural sense — those of us who went to university in the 1990s, and those who went/going in this decade).
Rumi:
What were these NSU students doing during the height of post 1-11 martial law, during atrocities in Dhaka University/Aziz Market?
Fariha:
At least one NSU student was writing against the post 1-11 activities with you on UV =)
When discussing this incident, a little background must be kept in mind
1) NSU is the most expensive university in BD. A 4-year degree would cost a minimum of 5 lakhs (unless you’re a scholarship student, and there’s very few of them)
2) The students are not a socio-economically homogenous body. Though the perception is that it’s generally bubble-zone boy/girls infested, but you’ll find a lot of regular, bangalee moddho-bitto family children whose parents’ lives savings are perhaps spent on building a new campus and decorating the chairman’s rooftop office
3) The condition of the campus has gone from atrocious to I-don’t-even-want-to-think-about-it-because-it-makes-me- so-mad in the past 5 years. There’s no walking space because it’s so packed, the roads are merely inundated potholes, 4000 students are packed into a building which has no fire escape, the lifts malfunction and the classrooms/bathrooms are in deplorable condition.The argument many seem to be raising now is that it’s a pvt uni, thereby they are governed by the principles of the market system. So the authority is increasing the fees because their costs have gone up and they haven’t raised the fees in the last 7 years.
It wasn’t merely the fee increase. It was the systematic oppression of the entire student body. Just because we happen to be in a privately governed system doesnt mean we don’t have rights.
It’s about depriving these students, who pay hundreds of thousands more than what the public unis charge, to study in an environment which is no better (unsafe,teachers are late, rude, busy with personal projects, of loose character, etc).
NSU BoG is very wary of student bodies because in the past some student led clubs have been accused of siphoning uni funds in the name of student activities. Plus the student body isn’t a very socially-conscious one and there’s a risk of hijack by political parties with vested interest. This is what I had last heard from them.
Student governments are like labour unions. They have similar advantages and disadvantages. I do no agree with Mridul’s prescription. The fundamental problem lies with the University Grants Commission, allowing private universities with inadequate resources and infrastructure to over-enroll students and deliver very low quality of education with a substandard academic staff often drawn from higher secondary system. Private Universities in BD are basically diploma mills. There isn’t any micro-solution to the problems of these organizations unless there is overall reform in the educational policy and regulation of this country that is once again tied to the social and political governance of BD, that is beyond the scope of this post.
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I strongly demand that private universities, colleges, schools, clinics and businesses be moved out of residential areas.
These institutions especially schools in Dhanmondi, Banani and Gulshan ae creating a chaotic situation for the inhabitants of these resdential areas.
Rowdy behaviour by students of private universities lately and unmanageable traffic clogging the streets and noise and chaos made by vehicles in the morning hours have become unbearable.
The situation is particularly terrible in Gulshan 2. Scholastica on North Avenue and John Wilson on Road #75/77 is so bad that residents in the vicinity can hardly use the local roads.
The Dhaka City Corporation, LGRD and Education ministry should serve notices to these illegal institues to move out and relocate in newly allocated land in the outskirts of the city. These private schools charge exorbitant fees and some schools like Sir John Wilson School have millions of pound sterling in donation money to do so. These schools should also be penalized by heavily taxing them for creating a mess in residential areas.
These schools are paying residential area taxes to the DCC while using the residences for lucrative business purposes. This is absolutely illegal.
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The NSU event is deplorable. They are creating nuisance for the public. same with many mushrooming schools and businesses in Banani. They must be shut down.
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To Rumi Bhai:
NSU students were stuck in a Banani-Kakoli traffic or Gulshan-Mohakhali Link Road traffic on their way to protest. Those who were luckily in the campus were waiting at the queue to get in the lift. Two or three who could get in at last moments, had to stand still because the VC, his PS and his peon just came and got in, pushing the students behind. So finally no one reached the scene, and no protest took place. And me? Umm… I was discussing this post in my lab.
Just kidding.
To Mridul Chowdhury:
Well, a student government could do something to hold the matter from worsening. But the recent incident at NSU was such a thing, it started with all of NSU students at one side, and all other non-student people in NSU at the other. As time went by, the non-student part was left only with the Board of Governors, VC’s office, chairmen of the departments and the proctor; a total of not more than 35 people. Everyone, everyone else, all the general employees, almost all the faculty instructors, just kept saying two things. These were, “Police diye mar khawabar kono proyojon chhilo na” and “Purano student-ra barti taka dite jabe kon dukkhe?”. Even, a handful faculty instructors actively took part in the mailing syndicate where everybody was looking for heads of people who didn’t support the protest. So I don’t exactly know what a student body could do before May 10th, but a student body had nothing to do with how it went on after May 10th.
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