In response to students’ demands, Jagannath University (JnU) administration banned politics for students, teachers, and staff on August 13 last year. Despite this ban, the Students’ Rights Council announced its JnU branch committee on December 17. Just one week later, on December 24, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s student wing, Jatiotabadi Chatradal, declared its branch committee at the university. Not only at Jagannath, but student organizations are also announcing committees and holding various programs at many other educational institutions where politics is banned.
Under the rule of the Awami League, students were fed up with the harassment and various crimes by the Chhatra League on campuses and in dormitories. However, after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5 through a student-led mass uprising, the demand to ban politics in universities became stronger. One of the nine points of the anti-discrimination student movement is to ban political student organizations at all educational institutions and make student councils functional. Following this, student politics was banned in almost fifty institutions. Despite opposition from regular students, political student organizations like Chatrodal, Islami Chhatrashibir, Students’ Rights Council, and Student Union have been announcing committees in public and private universities, as well as in medical colleges.
Saiful Islam, a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, explained the reasoning behind banning political student organizations. He told Bonik Barta, “Student organizations of mother political parties always work to implement the party’s goals. Political parties in power in Bangladesh view university campuses as a threat. As a result, they try to silence students by creating fear in various ways. But we want students to think independently and have open criticism. For such an environment, we demand the ban of political student organizations from all campuses.”
The strongest demand for banning student politics came from Dhaka University (DU) students. A survey titled “Students’ Opinions Regarding Party-based Student Politics and Political Activities at the University of Dhaka” was conducted by the Dhaka University Research Society (DURS). A total of 2,237 students participated in the survey, and 83.80 percent of them supported the complete ban on party-based student politics. In addition, students protested on campus to push for their demands. Under pressure from their strong demands, on the night of September 20, a meeting of the Syndicate decided to stop all types of political activities for students, teachers, and staff on campus.
The student wing of the BNP, Jatiotabadi Chatrodal, however ignored this decision by the university authorities. On November 14, they announced a full committee of 242 members at DU. Earlier, Islami Chatroshibir, which is the student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, revealed its full 14-member committee on October 2.
At Jahangirnagar University (JU), regular students have been protesting for a long time demanding the ban on partisan and affiliate-based politics. Amid this, Shibir presented its JU branch committee on October 29. And on January 8, Chatrodal declared a 177-member convening committee.
On November 20, Bangladesh Islami Chatroshibir announced its full committee for the Chattogram University branch. Prior to that, on September 24, the names of the president and secretary were revealed publicly. On January 8, the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing announced a new committee for the Bangladesh Agricultural University branch. The committee for Rajshahi University was declared on January 7. Additionally, new committees for the 2025 session were announced by Chatroshibir at various campuses, including Begum Rokeya University, Cumilla University, and Islamic University. Meanwhile, on December 24, Jatiotabadi Chatrodal announced committees for Jagannath University, Titumir College, Dhaka College, Government Kabi Nazrul College, Tejgaon College, Government Bangla College, and Dhaka Polytechnic Institute.
Regarding the demands of regular students to ban student politics, Nasir Uddin Nasir, the central general secretary of Chatrodal, told Bonik Barta, “During the mass uprising in July-August, one of the nine points was the ban on party-based student politics, and we objected to that point. The leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement assured us that they would remove this point. But towards the end, when the issue of the fall of autocrat Sheikh Hasina came up, there was no further discussion on this. We had objections to banning party-based student politics before, and we still do.” He made it clear that Chatrodal would never accept this point.
When asked about student opinions on banning student politics on campus, Nasir Uddin Nasir said, “This is part of Shibir’s conspiracy. They have been secretly engaging in politics for the past 15 years and are now starting to come out partially. Those who participated in human chains and protest rallies demanding a ban on student politics are the same people who have now taken positions in Shibir’s committee. In reality, various organizations are involved in this conspiracy under the guise of banning party-based student politics because they are afraid of competing with Chatrodal’s popularity and organizational strength.”
Sibgatullah, Chatroshibir’s central leader, believes that student politics should not be banned in the country. Stating that there is no issue with constructive, student-friendly politics on campus, the organization’s literary secretary told Bonik Barta, “Student politics is deeply connected with the history of the country. It was through student politics that Bangladesh was born. The latest uprising of ‘24 also occurred under student leadership. So, it cannot be banned.”
Sibgatullah also believes that the main goal of student politics should be to work for the rights of students. He added, “The political party’s agenda, carrying out its programs, providing protocol to the party leader, and establishing unilateral dominance by government-affiliated student organizations cannot be the purpose of student politics.”
Regarding the committees formed in various educational institutions, he said, “There were committees in these institutions before, and they are still being formed. However, care must be taken to ensure that the authority of any single student organization does not dominate and that a democratic environment is maintained.”
Other student organizations are also not behind in forming committees in educational institutions. On October 27, a new committee was formed for the Rajshahi University branch of Bangladesh Students’ Union. On October 11, Bangladesh Students’ Rights Council announced its convening committee for Dhaka University. On December 31, the student organization gave a partial committee for the Tejgaon College branch. On January 8, the Students’ Rights Council approved its convening committee for the Rangamati Government College branch.
Md Bin Yamin Mollah, the president of the Bangladesh Students’ Rights Council, told Bonik Barta, “For a long time, due to the oppression and abuse by Chhatra League, regular students have developed a sense of fear and anxiety toward politics. We were the most vocal on the campuses against the misrule of the Awami League. We have continued to protest against all injustices. Therefore, we want student friends to not associate student politics with Chhatra League politics. Student politics means student activism. University students are adults and vote in elections. So, they must be politically conscious. However, discussions can be held on what kind of politics should take place in educational institutions.”