A Complex Legacy
SHAM ISLAM
Politically conscious students in Bangladesh have always been a source of admiration and controversy. Student activism has historically influenced the country’s political landscape. Yet the perception of publicly traded companies today is an ambivalent blend of reverence for their legacy and anxiety about their current practices. The two perspectives represent students’ growing role in politics and their participation in the political processes in creating and supporting Bangladesh’s interim government.
Championing the Change: Historical Legacy
Students’ involvement in Bangladesh’s political movements is fundamental to its contemporary history. In 1952, during the Language Movement, which resulted in Bengali being accepted as one of the state languages of Pakistan, students were at the barricades. The student-led uprisings of the mass movement of 1969 and the role they played as change agents in the Liberation War of 1971 further reinforced this identity. These students inherited a legacy that afforded them a cherished space in the nation’s collective memory, seen as instigators of progressive change.
Modern-day Crisis: The Erosion in Virtue
However, the perception of student activists has changed dramatically. Today, politically active students are synonymous with partisan politics, factionalism, and violence. It is common for party-affiliated student wings like BCL and JCD to give preference to their party’s best interests rather than those of students or society. As a result, public trust has been eroded by allegations of corruption, abuse of power, and violence on campuses.
Public Perception: A Mixed Bag of Scepticism and Hope
This dichotomy is shaping the general public’s impression of student activists today. If there is respect for what student movements managed to accomplish historically, there is increasingly widespread suspicion of their present place. Instead, many regard them as pawns of mainstream political parties, not independent advocates for the reform of society and education.
Yet, hope persists. Politically aware students can still work towards meaningful change, as evidenced through grassroots movements led by nonpartisan student organisations, such as the protests demanding safe roads and reforming the quota system after 2018. These actions have momentarily renewed public hope in the potential of youth activism.
Take Part in Forming the Interim Government Generally
With upcoming elections in Bangladesh, debate continues over creating an interim government. Students who may be politically oriented, especially those who are partisan, hope to participate indirectly by swaying opinions and rallying support for their respective camps. However, they are only indirectly involved in the process of intermediary resolutions for the government establishment.
Hence, the public perception is that these student groups act as proxies for the party line rather than as independent voices and prevent honest and transparent discourse on an interim government. It is time for reforms to ensure accountability, integrity, and inclusiveness govern those politically active students.
Conclusion: A Renaissance Beckons
However, the portrayal of politically active students in Bangladesh is problematic. Not only are their past contributions of historical importance, but their current behaviours, postures, and plays are often scrutinised. Student activists must go beyond partisan divides to earn back trust and put issues of national interest at the forefront of their agenda—education reform, social justice, and democratic governance.
As a student, if you have a way of thinking of these issues, what could bring student activism back to its original ethos, living up to its status as a catalyst for positive change, high up national issues and playing an essential part in closing the gaps right into the political processes, even those of the interim government. It is more the need of the hour for the public to remain hopeful that the values of the glorious era of student politics subside into the future of Bangladesh again.