Graffiti by activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League on a compartment of a Chittagong University shuttle train. Photo: STAR

Compartment-based groups in Chittagong University (CU) shuttle trains resurfaced defying the ban on their activities.
The university authorities at an emergency meeting of its syndicate on May 1 this year banned the boggy-based activities following the clashes between the BCL factions on April 29 and 30 that forced suspension of all the classes and examinations for 11 days.
Subsequently, the authorities also erased names of boggy-based groups from the compartments of the shuttle train, university sources said.
They said no sooner had seven months gone, the previous scenario has returned to the shuttle train. The boggy-based groups inscribed their names in the compartments and started activities again, the sources added.
The students, seeking anonymity, said the clash between BCL factions may erupt at any time again in the shuttle trains as the groups become active.
They urged the university authorities to look into the matter seriously to make the train journey safe and delightful for the general students.
The Chittagong University launched the shuttle train in 1980 in cooperation with the Bangladesh Railway to carry students to and from the port city. The one-hour journey has gradually turned into the centre of amusement for the students, sources said.
Seven trains shuttle between the university and the port city everyday, carrying the students. The students in general rejoice all the way about 22 kilometers by singing songs and telling jokes, they added.
The students of different departments formed diverse compartment-based groups to make their journey enjoyable with the participation of meritorious ones, sources said.
But, the general students gradually start to keep themselves away from these groups after the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) took control of the compartments since the mid-90s. Commotion, chaos, disorder and clashes became the common phenomena in the trains as soon as the BCL men took control of these groups, sources said.
Many sub-groups among the BCL men emerged after the BCL established its boggy-based politics.
Campus sources said there are around 20 boggy-based groups led by the BCL men in different names such as Ureka, Cockpit, Apitaf, Dost, Choose Friends with Care, Akakar, Fatafati, Sixty Nine, Always, Sampan and Varsity Xpress.
They inscribed names of their groups inside and outside the compartments to occupy them.
Scuffles and altercations over trifling matters over establishing supremacy by the BCL factions have become a common scenario among the boggy-based groups, making the journey by trains unsafe for the students, general students said.
The university unit BCL General Secretary M A Khaled Chowdhury, however, denied the involvement of their activists in the groups, saying that they are the cultural groups that only support BCL.
Admitting resurfacing of the boggy-based groups, Proctor Dr Mohammad Nasim Hasan said the ban is still in force and necessary steps will be taken against the violators.
At least 35 incidents of clashes took place among the boggy-based groups, leaving about 70 BCL activists injured in the last three years.