JU has its job cut out for it: remove illegals
Why are so many non-students occupying its halls?
Saturday's rape of a woman at the Jahangirnagar University (JU) has brought to sharp focus, among other issues, the problem of the persisting presence of former students and outsiders in its dormitories. One of the prime accused in this case, a leader of the JU wing of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), was one such occupant. Known as the only full-fledged residential university in Bangladesh, the JU has, on paper, a strict accommodation policy for students completing their studies. They are required to vacate their hall seat within seven days of the completion of post-graduation final exams. The punishment for non-compliance is suspension of the publication of their results. However, rarely is this rule implemented, allowing politically-affiliated students to continue as usual.
This has resulted not just in crimes and further disruptions to the university/hall climate, but also an artificial seat crisis for genuine students, even after the opening of new dormitories in recent months. According to a report by Prothom Alo, about 1,000 former students, mostly tied with the BCL, are currently occupying rooms in various halls. According to another estimate, the number of unauthorised residents could be as high as 1,320. Prominent among them are both the current president and general secretary of the JU BCL wing, as well as a former vice-president.
It is because of such powerful BCL figures and their absolute control over seat allocation or halls in general that the university administration has had little success in enforcing its rules. On various occasions, students have staged protests demanding the removal of illegal residents, but to little avail. Last year, after issuing a notice ordering all illegal residents to leave halls within seven days, the administration failed to exercise its authority to drive them out. Whether the authorities at all meant to execute the order is also a question worth asking, given their complicit silence in the face of various crimes and gross irregularities committed by members of the ruling party's student wing.
On Monday, amid widespread criticism following the rape, the administration again issued a notice asking non-student residents to leave within five days. The vice-chancellor is apparently confident that this time it will work. But students are skeptical, and rightly so. But this illegal practice has to stop anyway possible. Students cannot continue to live in fear or be deprived of their right to accommodation because of illegals, however powerful they might be. The administration, therefore, must remove them, using force if necessary, and secure their seats for genuine students seeking accommodation. It also must break BCL's control over the halls.