Bangladesh Politics and Student Activism.

Bangladesh has a long history of intense student protest surrounding national politics. Students in Bangladesh have led major political movements and helped dictate the course of Bangladesh politics. Most recently, much of this activity in politics has turned violent, and students no longer inspire movements but encourage turmoil.

The history of student involvement in Bangladesh politics dates back to the first nationalist movements of the former East Pakistan. The movement known as the Bengali Language Movement was led by student protesters refusing to give up their rights. As a result of growing tensions in Bangladesh surrounding the declaration of Urdu as the national language, governmental forces banned all public demonstrations. In 1952, student protests at Dhaka University challenging Pakistani politics led to police attacking the demonstrators and killing three students. Their death galvanized Bangladesh nationalism and started a long trend of student activism in politics.

It seems in recent years Bangladesh students have become as jaded by partisan politics as their fore bearers. Bangladesh student leaders tend to go back and forth between practical demonstration and inspiring mass violence. The politics of these student groups seem to be passed down from either prominent political party, demonstrating an obedience to party politics more than genuine grassroots demonstrations.

Regardless of the root of students’ activism in politics, these student leaders enter the Bangladesh national light quite often, with several becoming members of parliament. When opposition parties take office, they generally focus a large portion of their time on persecuting prominent members of the other Bangladesh parties and sadly, students are not free from this persecution. Student leaders involved in politics have been jailed without the constitutionally mandated trials for years at a time, while others have even been murdered in cold blood.
Since the recent restitution of Bangladesh government elections after widespread corruption, it appears some of the fanaticism in student politics has started to fade. However, when the army-backed interim government first disallowed political activity while they sorted out the rampant violence and corruption, students in Universities country-wide began to protest. Although the repression of rights by a governmental body should not be blindly accepted, the function of student politics morphed into violence. Active demonstration turned into extreme destruction as at least 200 individuals were hurt or killed and millions of dollars in property were destroyed.

The recent activities of student politics in Bangladesh are not indicative of a problem with youth, but rather, a lack of vision by elected officials. Possibly with good intentions, students function exactly as the ineffective party leaders and refuse to compromise. To break the cycle of a corrupt Bangladesh government, it must start with leaders instilling in students the need to work together towards a common goal.