Editorial
BUET incidents regrettable
Greater sensitivity expected from administration
The events at the campus of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) were as unfortunate as they were uncalled for. Though the indefinite strike called by the agitated students has been withdrawn on an assurance from the university authority for a week-long holiday during Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community, the incidents that triggered the pandemonium cannot be taken in a light vein.First of all, the VC should have known that the remark purportedly made by him to the effect that the demand for an extension of holiday for only 20 percent of the BUET students was 'illogical', could hurt the sentiments of those who had raised it. And it did. One would have thought that as the head of the institution, the VC would have taken a sagacious approach to the issue, especially when there was a block of holidays that fell in with the Puja festival. Secondly, reprehensible were the assaults on the agitated students by the members of the ruling party student wing, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) which only helped to create a complicated and incendiary situation. In the process, six students, some photojournalists and police constables were injured. The clashes between student groups on an issue that was primarily administrative were symptomatic of political divisiveness that has engulfed campuses. With the university authorities' positive decision in the matter, the situation should calm down, even though it is learnt that a degree of tension is prevailing and that students are leaving dormitories out of fright for what the JCD activists might do. We believe that it's a good idea to have a solidarity rally of teachers, students and guardians aimed at restoring normality and calm on the campus. We feel the whole controversy could have been averted if the spirit of accommodation that ultimately helped resolve the issue had been manifest earlier on.
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