Anti-quota campaigners under BCL cosh!

Several leaders of the platform demanding civil service quota reform were allegedly set upon by the members of the BCL while they were about to address a press conference regarding the issue on June 30. And this was not for the first time that students ventilating their grievances collectively have suffered the wrath of the BCL activists. Predictably, the matter was denied by the BCL central leaders claiming that no BCL activists were involved in the violence. The explanations they offered do not hold water and the pictures say otherwise.

The behaviour of the Chhatra League activists, particularly on the campus of the country's highest seat of learning, provokes one to ask a few fundamental questions. Firstly, don't the students have the right to air their demands or the liberty to dissent? Secondly, who has given the right to an appendage of the ruling party to stifle the students' demand by force? There have been similar instances in the past where AL appendages were seen trying to chastise opposition dissent behaving as another arm of law enforcement.

We have commented many times before about the unbridled behaviour of the BCL activists, not only in DU but also in several other educational institutions. Regrettably, the central leadership of the party has not moved strongly enough to restrain these elements. Despite the PM expressing annoyance in the past, the situation has not changed. The responsibility of maintaining law and order or addressing students' demands is that of the University administration. We would hope that they would not allow their responsibilities to be outsourced to any student organisation.