We are alarmed to see how students of colleges and universities are getting increasingly involved in violent clashes among themselves and with others, often over trivial matters. Just a week ago, the students of Ideal College and Dhaka College, together with City College, clashed on the streets of the capital. A number of students were injured then, while traffic was held up for several hours. In less than a week, we hear of another violent clash that took place between the students of Rajshahi University and local people on the night of March 11. Reportedly, over 200 students were injured in the clash, while properties of many locals were also damaged.

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Thugs in the Making?

What could prompt students to engage in such reckless violence? And what could embolden locals to go to such lengths? Apparently, it all started from something as insignificant as a disagreement over a bus seat. According to news reports, one student of the university was travelling to Rajshahi from Bogura when he had an argument with the bus driver and helper over taking a seat in the bus. When the bus stopped at the Binodpur gate of the university around 6pm on Saturday, their argument reignited. At one point, a local shopkeeper intervened, taking the side of the bus operators. There was pushing and shoving between the shopkeeper and the student. The situation soon escalated as more students and locals engaged in the fight and started to chase each other.

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Students or criminals?

The question is, how can an argument over a bus seat escalate to the level that it did? Why did law enforcement officials fail to control the situation before it turned so bad? Did the university administration play its due role in containing the violence? We hope these will be revealed through investigation soon. But from what we have learned so far, it can be said that the students who led the clash clearly wanted to exhibit their power over the locals. Their feeling of entitlement, as students of a public university, must have made them so intolerant that they could not even let go of a simple brawl with a bus driver and helper. We witnessed such intolerance among the students of public universities and colleges many times in the past. The huge clash that took place between the students of Dhaka College and the traders of Dhaka New Market area last year, over a silly argument at a fast food shop, is a case in point.

Clearly, those in charge of these educational institutions are failing to establish discipline or inculcate a sense of tolerance among their students. It doesn't help that the environment of those institutions is also often vitiated by toxic politics, which is hindering learning. This must change. The authorities must take steps so that violence doesn't become the default language of communication of students.