Islami Chhatra Shibir - A Threat to Democracy

Since the assassination of Mujibur Rahman in 1975 and the re-birth of the Islamist student body Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) in February 1977 Bangladesh continues to face a serious threat to democracy.

A wider network of various Islamist organizations in Bangladesh like, Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), Islami Oikyo Jote(IOJ) and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) transformed Bangladesh into an emerging terrorist State. Of them the ICS, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami launched a protracted movement ever since its re-birth to turn the entire socio-political system of the country from democratic secular character to a Taliban type Islamist regime in Bangladesh. Instilling jehadi spirit of Islam among the students in different universities and madrassas it inspired the students for acquiring Islamic knowledge and prepared them for their jihadi mission. Its ideology of political Islam, which was opposed to the forces of modernization, secularism and democracy, helped it in getting the moral and material support from most of the radical Islamist groups including the terrorist outfits all over the world. Thriving on transforming the shape of the education and the socio-cultural environment of Bangladesh, the ICS is today known as strongest militant student's organization in the universities of Chittagong, Dhaka, Rajshahi and Jahangirnagar. As a dominant Islamist outfit in Khulna and Sylhet, it is an uncontested radical group within the vast madrassa (religious seminary) structure in Bangladesh.

History of Islam-based student politics in Bangladesh dates back to the period of Pakistan movement in early forties of last century. However, migration of Maulana Maududi, the founder of the JEI to Pakistan provided a new vigor to it. The JEI formed its student wing Islami Jamaat-e-Talaba (‘Talaba’ meaning students) in Lahore on 23 December 1947. A full-fledged East Pakistan wing of the organization was however, formed in 1955 with its Bengali name Islami Chhatra Sangha. Initially, the Sangha had a modest beginning but pegged with the religious ideologies of the JEI it could gradually muster clout within the mainstream student politics in Pakistan. With its area of influence among the madrassa students it could also manage its linkage with Jamiat-e-Talabae-Arabia that played a crucial role in galvanizing the Islamic student movement. Managing financial resource and guidance from internationally known Islamist student organizations, it started confrontational politics with the mainstream student bodies. The first major clash, in terms of action, between Islami Chhatra Sangh and the other student organizations surfaced in 1969, when it challenged the 11-point demands of the latter for self-rule from Pakistan. The violent clash between the two opposing student camps left a prominent Chhatra Sangha leader killed.

Ironically, in 1971 Liberation War when the largest group of East Pakistan civil society was up in arms against Pakistan, the JEI and the Chhatra Sangh worked as collaborators of Pakistan army. The central committee of the Islami Chhatra Shangha became the de facto committee of the infamous Al-Badar that was involved in the acts of genocide and the killing of a large number of intellectuals, who were supporting the Liberation War. Most of the members of the highest decision making body of Jamaat-e-Islami — Majlis-e-Shura — were the activists of Al-Badr central and district committees. The founding president of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, Mir Kasem Ali, and the following two presidents — Mohammad Kamruzzaman and Abdul Zahir Muhammad Abu Neser — were all documented office bearers of the Al-Badr. The present Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, Matiur Rahman Nizami was industry minister in the cabinet of Khalida Zia (2001 to 2006). Many other former members of the Shangha, who later went into Jamaat, were responsible for ‘crimes against humanity’ according to documents at the Bangladesh Liberation War Museum (The New Age/September, 13th, 2006 by Mahfuz) .

Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, as an independent democratic and secular Bengali nation was a major setback for the forces of Islamism. The Mujib Government imposed a ban on all the Islamist organizations including Islamic Chhatra Sangh due to their collaboration with Pakistan army. But the JEI re-grouped its cadres under different names and continued educating the people against democracy on the plea that it was anti-Islam.

The unfortunate assassination of Mujib in August 1975 was a God sent opportunity for the Islamists to revive their activities particularly when on May 4, 1976 Ziaur Rahman, the then Military ruler withdrew the ban imposed on religion-based political parties and their activities. Accordingly, a few leaders of the pre-liberation Islami Chhatra Sangh assembled at Dhaka on February 4, 1977 and revived the organization with a new name of Islami Chhatra Shibir ( ICS). Carrying forward its pre-liberation tainted legacy, the Islami Chhatra Shibir started a new journey with a mission "to satisfy Allah through the rearrangement of the total life of human being in the way given by Allah and shown by the prophet". Taking cue from its parent party, the JEI and to achieve its significant goal for establishing Afghanistan-Taliban type regime in Bangladesh, ICS made deep dent in the student and youth politics of the country.

Replacement of the word secularism with "absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah" in constitution through a decree on April 22, 1977 and return of the JEI same year in a conference on May 25-27 encouraged the ICS to revive religious-conservative student politics. Revival of the pre-liberation line that was contrary to the basic governing political principles of Bengali nationalism, socialism and secularism of both the mainstream right and left student bodies in the campus led to violent confrontational politics.

In 1978 the ICS aggressively struggled against 'Aparajeyo Bangla' erected at Dhaka University in remembrance of the Liberation War and its martyrs. Though the mainstream student political organizations and the general progressive attitude of the university's students thwarted the attempts of the ICS cadres, the latter did collect quite a large number of signatures. In a last ditch effort, they tried to sabotage the construction by removing a few bricks from the base of the statue, under-construction. This failed attempt was however, a reflection of 'real tectonic clash of ideologies' between theocratic political Islam and secular democratic politics. Although the new nation of Bangladesh had pushed the Islamist students' mass movement of 1969 into the backburners of pre-Liberation history, re-emergence of ICS barely within a decade was stepping-stones to turn the direction of the country towards a failing State.

In 1982 students' Union election in Chittagaon University the ICS won the entire panel, which legitimized its official recognition. This achievement helped it to expand its influence in other universities like Dhaka and Rajshahi . However, it got a rude shock in February 1983 when it was celebrating its founding anniversary at Ramna Battmul in Dhaka. The Chhatra Sangram Parishad, an alliance of fourteen none-Islamist students' organizations, which had launched agitation against the martial law hurled a grenade on the procession of the ICS, which injured two of its members. The incident trashed the 'musclemen on campus' image of the ICS and therefore, it made a tactical retreat by maintaining low profile with high return policy. It launched a systematic membership recruitment drive to increase its strength and did not bring out any procession in Dhaka University campus for many years.

Military ruler General Ershad's constitutional amendment in 1988 to incorporate Islam as state religion emboldened the ICS to take revenge of 1983 humiliation by staging a violent assault on the hostel of Jahangirnagar University and killing two of the students of the rival camp. But the event became counter productive and stimulated unity among the non-ICS students, who also joined the all-party joint movement against the military regime of Ershad.

With the end of army rule in 1990 the members of 'Paribesh Parishad', the university’s council of top officials and all student bodies, which oversee the campus atmosphere, took a unanimous decision not to allow any communal activities on the campus. This decision of 'Paribesh Parishad' made the ICS cadres restive and provoked them for another clash with the Chhatra Dal - Chhatra League combine on January 14, 1993, which resulted in the death of a student. Use of crude weapons, including bows-arrows in the clash turned out to be one of the most violent days in the history of student politics in Bangladesh.

With a strategy to make a deep in road in student community, the ICS started coaching centers for the admission tests for job-oriented educational courses and tapped a sizeable number of intelligent students even before they entered universities. Teaching on aggressive and vengeful values masquerading as Islamic values also formed a part in the coaching centers. Some reports suggested that Shibir leaders like Shishir Monir, the president of the organization’s Dhaka University unit; Badra Alam Didar, the president of Chittagong University unit; Abdul Hannan, the president of Islamic University unit; Sayed Fayjul Khalil, and Mahbubur Rahman, former presidents of Dhaka Medical College unit were the directors of these coaching centers. Providing financial and subsidized housing assistance to the needy students this grand strategy of the ICS not only increased its popularity among the students but also improved its fund position. According to some news papers report "the annual income of the ICS from coaching centers was Tk 25 crores".

The landslide victory of four-party alliance and formation of government led by Khalida Zia of BNP in October 2001with JEI and IOJ as cabinet partners boosted the morale of the ICS. Since then the record of violence in the share of the ICS increased day by day. Under the patronage of the JEI the government, it succeeded in re-asserting its position in the cabinet. In December 2002, re-appearance of banners and posters of Shibir was followed by a declaration of its Dhaka University president that no meeting of the 'Paribesh Parishad' could be held without it during the tenure of the present four-party alliance government. This aggressive design was a significant move, which helped in the fading away of the undeclared moratorium on it. By infiltrating its cadres in different government and social institutions and developing effectual infrastructure for organizing training, clandestine camps and shelters for the various Islamist terrorist outfits in the country ICS gradually emerged as a strong religio-political force in the campus. With a significant number of former Shibir leaders getting teaching positions at universities like Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Shahjalal and Khulna, the organization not only succeeded in building its stronghold among the students but could also keep the growth of combined progressive students’ movements under check.

Although, a larger group of general students remained disassociated with Shibir, revival of its 'muscle power' image engulfed the campus with a cloud of intellectual vacuum. Progressive organs like public universities getting infected by the encroachment from ICS camp led to the green growth of a number of revolutionary Islamist organizations. The situation helped the ISI to help the members of Taliban and Al-Qaeda for setting up their camps in Bangladesh. "Twenty Al-Qaeda terrorists holding Pakistani passports were arrested from a mosque in Khulna by the Bangladesh police and released later as early as January 2002" (Insurgency in North- East India -The Role of Bangladesh - Dipankar Sengupta/Sudhir Kumar Singh, Authors press, New Delhi, 2004, Page 245). Thus, partnership of the JEI in the four-party alliance became instrumental in the growth of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh. It also worked as a shield for the ICS in its secret link with various terrorist organizations operating in the country.

Maulana Mirza Nurul Huq, Convener of the Bangladesh Madrassa Teachers Association (BMTA) in a press conference said, "the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir are involved in terrorist activities in educational institutions using the name of Islam".

Addressing a seminar on "The Rise of Militancy" (Dhaka, October 2005) Professor Abu Sayeed said, " The Jamaat-e-Islami and Shibir (ICS) are providing arms training to the militants through 7000 madrasas in the country as part of strengthening their net work". He further said, "The Jamaat-e-Islami is the mother organization of 58 militant bodies operating in Bangladesh" (New Nation -Bangladesh). Some of the newspapers both in Bangladesh and India also reported that a sizeable number of madrasas were “singularly dedicated to propagate fundamentalist ideology and in many cases providing arms training to the students".
Media has routinely highlighted the link of ICS with all the terrorist outfits like Jamaat-ul-Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB), Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh (AHAB) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HUJIB) In the wake of the bomb blasts in 2005, 'The Daily Star', a leading daily of Bangladesh in its investigation found "most of the JMB and JMJB leaders were in the past members of the Islami Chhatra Shibir". Similar reports in some other newspapers in Bangladesh also corroborated that most of the leading members of over two dozen Islamist militant organizations were sometimes associated with the JEI or its student front the ICS.

"Tarique Rahman and several ex-BNP ministers directly patronized the outrageous operations of the JMB (Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh) in Rajshahi with the full knowledge of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, revealed an extensive The Daily Star investigation that was corroborated by top government officials in the region"."(The Daily Star Bangladesh dated June 21, 2007).

With Nurul Islam Bulbul as Central President, Mohammed Nazrul Islam as Secretary General and other important leaders like Kamal Ahmed Sikder, A S M Faruq, Muhammad Mujibur Rahman Manju, Muhammad Raisul and A S M Ashraf Mahmud Uzzal, the Executive Council of the ICS is the highest decision-making body of the organisation. ICS with its eight-member central secretariat and 6 divisions namely Dhaka Division, Chittagong Division, Sylhet Division, Rajshahi Division, Khulna Division and Barisal Division and each division with several districts and other units under its jurisdiction is one of the largest Islamist student organizations in South Asia. Maintaining a close link with Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and various other Islamist fundamentalist organizations of different countries ICS is also a member of International Islamic Federation of Student Organization (IIFSO) and World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). Its former President Dr. S A M Taher was also the Secretary General of IIFSO. Media reports suggest that the ICS indoctrinated the fanatic youths in Bangladesh and sent them to Pakistan and Afghanistan during the reign of the Taliban and various other terrorist outfits operating in South Asia. With the help of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan it also supported to the subversive agenda of the various terrorist groups in many regions of India.

Despite the repeated caution by the media against the growing menace of the ICS none of the successive governments in Bangladesh took any action to put any check in its growth. Even the claim of the present caretaker government that it has taken effective steps to curb Islamist terrorism also sounds hollow as it is hardly found serious in this regard.

Bangla Language Movement (Bhasha Andolan)

The Bengali Language Movement (Bhasha Andolan), also known as the Language Movement, was a political effort in Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan), advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as an official language of Pakistan. Such recognition would allow Bengali to be taught in schools and used in government affairs.

When the state of Pakistan was formed in 1947, its two regions, East Pakistan (also called East Bengal) and West Pakistan, were split over cultural, geographical, and linguistic lines. In 1948, the Government of Pakistan ordained Urdu as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Pakistan. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the government outlawed public meetings and rallies. The students of the University of Dhaka and other political activists defied the law and organized a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest led by the Awami Muslim League, later renamed the Awami League. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956. In 1999, UNESCO declared 21 February International Mother Language Day, in tribute to the Language Movement and the ethno-linguistic rights of people around the world.

The Language Movement catalyzed the assertion of Bengali national identity in Pakistan, and became a forerunner to Bengali nationalist movements, including the 6-point movement and subsequently the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. In Bangladesh, 21 February is observed as Language Movement Day, a national holiday. The Shaheed Minar monument was constructed near Dhaka Medical College in memory of the movement and its victims.

Background
The present nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of undivided India during the British colonial rule. From the mid-19th century, the Urdu language had been promoted as the lingua franca of Indian Muslims by political and religious leaders such as Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk and Maulvi Abdul Haq. Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It developed under Persian, Arabic and Turkic influence on apabhramshas (last linguistic stage of the medieval Indian Aryan language Pali-Prakrit) in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. With its Perso-Arabic script, the language was considered a vital element of the Islamic culture for Indian Muslims; Hindi and the Devanagari script were seen as fundamentals of Hindu culture.

While the use of Urdu grew common with Muslims in northern India, the Muslims of Bengal (a province in the eastern part of British India) primarily used the Bengali language. Bengali is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language that arose from the eastern Middle Indic languages around 1000 CE and developed considerably during the Bengal Renaissance. Supporters of Bengali opposed Urdu even before the partition of India, when delegates from Bengal rejected the idea of making Urdu the lingua franca of Muslim India in the 1937 Lucknow session of the Muslim League. The Muslim League was a British Indian political party that became the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state separate from British India.

Early stages of the movement
After the partition of India in 1947, Bengali-speaking Muslims in East Pakistan (also known as East Bengal) made up 44 million of the newly-formed Pakistan's 69 million people. Pakistan's government, civil services, and military, however, were dominated by West Pakistanis. In 1947, a key resolution at a national education summit in Karachi advocated Urdu as the sole state language, and its exclusive use in the media and in schools. Opposition and protests immediately arose. Students from Dhaka rallied under the leadership of Abul Kashem, the secretary of Tamaddun Majlish, a Bengali Islamic cultural organization. The meeting stipulated Bengali as an official language of Pakistan and as a medium of education in East Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Public Service Commission removed Bengali from the list of approved subjects, as well as from currency notes and stamps. The central education minister Fazlur Rahman made extensive preparations to make Urdu the only state language of Pakistan. Public outrage spread, and a large number of Bengali students met on the University of Dhaka campus on 8 December 1947 to formally claim that Bengali be made an official language. To promote their cause, Bengali students organized processions and rallies in Dhaka.

Leading Bengali scholars argued why only Urdu should not be the state language. The linguist Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah pointed out that Urdu was not the native language of any part of Pakistan, and said, "If we have to choose a second state language, we should consider Urdu." The writer Abul Mansur Ahmed said if Urdu became the state language, the educated society of East Pakistan would become 'illiterate' and 'ineligible' for government positions. The first Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad (National Language Action Committee), an organization in favor of Bengali as a state language was formed towards the end of December 1947. Professor Nurul Huq Bhuiyan of the Tamaddun Majlish convened the committee. Later, Parliament member Shamsul Huq convened a new committee to push for Bengali as a state language. Assembly member Dhirendranath Datta proposed legislation in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to allow members to speak in Bengali and authorize its use for official purposes. Datta's proposal was supported by legislators Prem Hari Burman, Bhupendra Kumar Datta and Sris Chandra Chattaopadhyaya of East Bengal, as well as the people from the region. Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan and the Muslim League denounced the proposal as an attempt to divide the Pakistani people, thus the legislation was defeated.

Agitations of 1948
Students of the University of Dhaka and other colleges of the city organized a general strike for 11 March 1948 to protest the omission of Bengali from official use, including coins, stamps and recruitment tests for the navy. The movement restated the demand that Bengali be declared an official language of Pakistan. Political leaders such as Shamsul Huq, Shawkat Ali, Kazi Golam Mahboob, Oli Ahad, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Abdul Wahed and others were arrested during the rallies. Rally leader Mohammad Toaha was hospitalized after attempting to snatch a rifle from a police officer. Student leaders, including Abdul Matin and Abdul Malek Ukil took part in the procession.

In the afternoon of 11 March, a meeting was held to protest police brutality and arrests. A group of students marching towards the chief minister Khawaja Nazimuddin's house was stopped in front of the Dhaka High Court. The rally changed its direction and moved in the direction of the Secretariat building. Police attacked the procession injuring several students and leaders including A. K. Fazlul Huq. Continuing strikes were observed from 12 March to 15 March. Under such circumstances, the chief minister Nazimuddin signed an accord with the student leaders agreeing to some of the terms and conditions, without complying to the demand that Bengali be made a state language.

In the height of civic unrest, Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah arrived in Dhaka on 19 March 1948. On 21 March, at a civic reception at Racecourse Ground, he claimed that the language issue was designed by a "fifth column" to divide Pakistani Muslims. Jinnah further declared that "Urdu and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language. He called those "Enemies of Pakistan" who disagreed with his views. Jinnah delivered a similar speech at Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka on 24 March. At both meetings, Jinnah was interrupted by large segments of the audience. He later called a meeting of a state language committee of action, and overruled the contract that was signed by Khawaja Nazimuddin with the student leaders. Before Jinnah left Dhaka on 28 March, he delivered a speech on radio reasserting his "Urdu-only" policy.

Shortly thereafter, the East Bengal Language Committee, presided by Maulana Akram Khan, was formed by the East Bengal government to prepare a report on the language problem. The Committee completed its report on 6 December 1950, but it was not published until 1958. The government suggested that Bengali be written in Arabic script, as a potential solution to the language conflict.

Events of 1952
The Urdu-Bengali controversy was reignited when Jinnah's successor governor-general Khawaja Nazimuddin staunchly defended the "Urdu-only" policy in a speech on 27 January 1952. On 31 January, the Sarbdaliya Kendriya Rashtrabhasha Karmi Parishad (All-Party Central Language Action Committee) was formed in a meeting at the Bar Library Hall of the University of Dhaka, chaired by Maulana Bhashani. The central government's proposal of writing the Bengali language in Arabic script was vehemently opposed at the meeting. The action committee called for an all out protest on 21 February, including strikes and rallies. Students of the University of Dhaka and other institutions gathered on the university premises on 4 February and warned the government to withdraw its proposal to write Bengali in Arabic script, and insistent for the recognition of Bengali. As the preparation for demonstrations was going on, government imposed Section 144 in the city of Dhaka, thereby banning any gatherings of more than four people.

21 February
At nine o' clock in the morning, students began gathering on the University of Dhaka premises in defiance of Section 144. The university vice-chancellor and other officials were present as armed police surrounded the campus. By a quarter past eleven, students gathered at the university gate and attempted to break the police line. Police fired tear gas shells towards the gate to warn the students. A section of students ran into the Dhaka Medical College while others rallied towards the university premises cordoned by the police. The vice-chancellor asked police to stop firing and ordered the students to leave the area. However, the police arrested several students for violating section 144 as they attempted to leave. Enraged by the arrests, the students met around the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and blocked the legislators' way, asking them to present their insistence at the assembly. When a group of students sought to storm into the building, police opened fire and killed a number of students, including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar. As the news of the killings spread, disorder erupted across the city. Shops, offices and public transport were shut down and a general strike began. At the assembly, six legislators including Manoranjan Dhar, Boshontokumar Das, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Dhirendranath Datta requested that chief minister Nurul Amin visit wounded students in hospital and that the assembly be adjourned as a sign of mourning. This motion was supported by some of the treasury bench members including Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish, Shorfuddin Ahmed, Shamsuddin Ahmed Khondokar and Mosihuddin Ahmed. However Nurul Amin refused the requests.

22 February
Disorder spread across the province as large processions ignored section 144 and condemned the actions of the police. More than 30,000 people congregated at Curzon Hall in Dhaka. During the continued protests, police actions led to the death of four more people. This prompted officers and clerks from different organizations, including colleges, banks and the radio station, to boycott offices and join the procession. Protesters burned the offices of two leading pro-government news agencies, the Jubilee Press and the Morning News. Police fired on a major janaza, or mourning rally, as it was passing through Nawabpur Road. The shooting killed several people including activist Sofiur Rahman and a nine-year old boy named Ohiullah.

Continued unrest
Through the night of 23 February, students of Dhaka Medical College worked on the construction of a Shaheed Smritistombho, or Monument of Martyrs. Completed at dawn on 24 February, the monument had a handwritten note attached to it with the words "Shaheed Smritistombho". Inaugurated by the father of the slain activist Sofiur Rahman, the monument was destroyed on 26 February by police. On 25 February, industrial workers in the town of Narayanganj observed a general strike. A protest followed on 29 February whose participants faced severe police beating.

The government censored news reports and withheld exact casualty figures during the protests. Most pro-government media held Hindus and communists responsible for encouraging the disorder and student unrest. The families of Abul Barkat and Rafiq Uddin Ahmed tried to charge the police with murder, but the charges were dismissed by the police. An 8 April government report on the incidents failed to show any particular justification for police firings on the students. When the constituent assembly reconvened on 14 April, proceedings were stalled by members of the Muslim League when legislators from East Bengal sought to raise the language issue. On 16 April, the University of Dhaka reopened and the Sarbdaliya Kendriya Rashtrabhasha Karmi Parishad (All-Party Central Language Action Committee) held a seminar on 27 April at the Bar Association Hall. At the meeting delegates urged the government to release prisoners, relax restrictions on civil liberties and adopt Bengali as an official language.

Events after 1952
Sarbdaliya Kendriya Rashtrabhasha Karmi Parishad decided to commemorate 21 February as Shahid Dibs (Martyrs' Day). On the first anniversary of the protests, people across East Pakistan wore black badges in solidarity with the victims. Most offices, banks and educational institutions were closed to observe the occasion. Student groups made agreements with college and police officials to preserve law and order. More than 100,000 people assembled at a public meeting held in Armanitola in Dhaka, where community leaders called for the immediate release of Maulana Bhashani and other political prisoners. However, West Pakistani politicians such as Fazlur Rahman aggravated sectional tensions by declaring that anyone who wanted Bengali to become an official language would be considered an "enemy of the state." Bengali students and civilians disobeyed the restrictions to celebrate the anniversary of the protests. Demonstrations broke out on the night of 21 February 1954 with various halls of the University of Dhaka raising black flags in mourning. Police arrested students and other protesters, who were released later despite refusing to post bail.

United Front in 1954
Political tensions came to a head as elections to the provincial assembly of East Bengal were held in 1954. The ruling Muslim League denounced the opposition United Front coalition, which - led by Fazlul Huq and the Awami League - wanted greater provincial autonomy. Several United Front leaders and activists were arrested. A meeting of parliament's Muslim League members, chaired by prime minister Muhammad Ali Bogra, resolved to give official recognition to Bengali. This decision was followed by a major wave of unrest as other ethnic groups sought the recognition of other regional languages. Proponents of Urdu such as Maulvi Abdul Haq condemned any proposal to grant official status to Bengali. He led a rally of 100,000 people to protest against Muslim League's decision. Consequently, the implementation failed and the United Front won a vast majority of seats in the legislative assembly as the representation of the Muslim League was reduced to a historic low.

The United Front ministry ordered the creation of the Bangla Academy to promote, develop, and preserve Bengali language, literature, and heritage. However, the United Front rule was temporary, as Governor General Ghulam Muhammad cancelled the government and started ruling under governor on 30 May 1954. United Front again formed the ministry on 6 June 1955 after the governor's regime ended. Awami League did not participate in this ministry though.

Following the return of the United Front to power, the anniversary on 21 February 1956 was observed for the first time in a peaceful atmosphere. Government supported a major project to construct a new Shaheed Minar. The session of the constituent assembly was stopped for five minutes to express condolence for the students slain in the police shootings. Major rallies were organised by Bengali leaders and all public offices and businesses remained closed.

Constitution reform
On 7 May 1954, the constituent assembly resolved, with the Muslim League's support, to grant official status to Bengali. Bengali was recognized as the second official language of Pakistan on 29 February 1956, and article 214(1) of the constitution of Pakistan was reworded to "The state language of Pakistan shall be Urdu and Bengali."

However, the military government formed by Ayub Khan made attempts to re-establish Urdu as the sole national language. On 6 January 1959, the military regime issued an official statement and reinstated the official stance of supporting the 1956 constitution's policy of two state languages.

Liberation of Bangladesh
Although the question of official languages was settled by 1956, the military regime of Ayub Khan promoted the interests of the Punjabi and Pashtun communities at the expense of Bengalis. Despite forming the majority of the national population, the Bengali community continued to be under-represented in the civil and military services, and received a minority of state funding and other government help. Facing extensive ethnic discrimination in West Pakistan, Bengalis grew increasingly alienated. Consequently, sectional divisions grew, and support for the Bengali nationalist Awami League, which invoked the spirit of the Language Movement was invoked in its 6-point movement for greater autonomy and democracy. One demand was that East Pakistan be called Bangladesh (Land of Bengal), which subsequently led to the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Legacy
The Language Movement had a major cultural impact on Bengali society. It has inspired the development and celebration of the Bengali language, literature and culture. 21 February, celebrated as Language Movement Day or Sahid Dibas (Martyrs' Day), is a major national holiday in Bangladesh. A month-long event called the Ekushe Book Fair is held every year to commemorate the movement. Ekushe Padak, one of the highest civilian awards in Bangladesh, is awarded annually in memory of the sacrifices of the movement. Songs such as Abdul Gaffar Choudhury's “Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano”, as well as plays, works of art and poetry played a considerable role in rousing the people's emotions during the movement. Since the events of February 1952, poems, songs, novels, plays, films, cartoons and paintings were created to capture the movement from varied point of views. Notable artistic depictions include the poems Barnamala, Amar Dukhini Barnamala and February 1969 by Shamsur Rahman, the film Jiban Theke Neya by Zahir Raihan, the stage play Kabar by Munier Chowdhury and the novels Ekushe February by Raihan and Artonaad by Shawkat Osman. Bangladesh officially sent a proposal to UNESCO to declare 21 February as "International Mother Language Day." The proposal was supported unanimously at the 30th General Conference of UNESCO held on 17 November 1999.

Two years after the first monument was destroyed by the police, a new Shaheed Minar (Monument of Martyrs) was constructed in 1954 to commemorate the protesters who lost their lives. Work on a larger monument designed by the architect Hamidur Rahman began in 1957 with the support of the United Front ministry. Hamidur Rahman’s model consisted of a large complex in the yard of the Dhaka Medical College Hostel. The design included a half-circular column symbolizing a mother with her martyred sons standing at the dais in the center of the monument. Although the imposition of martial law in 1958 interrupted the work, the monument was completed and inaugurated on 21 February 1963 by Abul Barkat's mother, Hasina Begum. Pakistani forces demolished the monument during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, but the Bangladeshi government reconstructed it in 1973.

Criticism
Although the Language Movement is considered to have laid the foundations for nationalism in East Pakistan, it also heightened the cultural animosity between the two wings of Pakistan. In West Pakistan, the movement was seen as a sectional uprising against Pakistani national interests. The rejection of the "Urdu-only" policy was seen as a contravention of the Perso-Arabic culture of Muslims and the founding ideology of Pakistan, the Two-Nation Theory. West Pakistani politicians considered Urdu a product of Indian Islamic culture, while they saw Bengali as a part of "Hinduized" Bengali culture. This provoked considerable opposition in West Pakistan. As late as in 1967, Ayub Khan said, "East Bengalis...still are under considerable Hindu culture and influence."

The Awami Muslim League turned over to Bengali nationalism after the Movement, and shed the word "Muslim" from its name. This nationalist approach of the party led to alienation of leaders such as Golam Azam who were supportive of the Muslim activism rather than the nationalist approach. The Language Movement inspired similar discontent for cultural rights and sectional autonomy in the provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and the Northwest Frontier Province. The political unrest in East Pakistan and rivalry between the central government and the United Front-led provincial government was one of the main factors culminating in the 1958 military coup by Ayub Khan.

The Emergence of Violence in Students Politics

Campus Violence has been a public concern and a cause for national anxiety since 1973. Barring stray incidences, campus violence was not experienced during the British period, though even then all major political parties had their supporting student fronts and though communal violence was then extremely high. Until 1947, the politically active part of the student community was committed to political questions like anti-colonial movements, flanked by Indian nationalism on the one hand, and Pakistan nationalism on the other. The nationalist spirit was replaced by the regional spirit during the Pakistan period. Various student organizations then rendered support to political parties in their struggles for regional autonomy and democratic rights.

Campus violence in Bangladesh may be traced back to Mohammad Ayub Khan regime when a government sponsored student organization, National Students’ Federation (NSF), was let loose to squash student movements for regional autonomy and democracy in favor of the Ayubean system of basic democracies. NSF cadres established a reign of terror in all campuses of East Pakistan, especially in the University of Dhaka. The first notable victim of the politics of terror was a NSF leader of Dhaka University, Saidur Rahman alias Panch Pattur. He was killed in 1968. An earlier recorded killing had taken place in 1942 when Nazir Ahmed, a student leader of Dhaka University, was killed in a communal frenzy. Compared to the violence record in American campuses during the same period, the murder of two students in 52 years of existence of the university is indicative of the relatively better campus situation than most American campuses.

But the scene changed after 1973. With the end of Pakistani rule, the return of student activists from war fronts, and the sharp polarization of students ideologically and politically, campuses became hot-beds of conflicts and scenes of violence. The Student League, a student organization in the vanguard of the War of Liberation, got embroiled in in-fighting over after-war ideologies and interests. One consequence of the development was the ghastly seven-murder incidence at Mohsin Hall of Dhaka University on 4 April, 1974. Since then, the politics of violence on campuses have continued unabated. Campus violence became so rampant that in course of the regimes of Ziaur Rahman and Hussain Muhammad Ershad, it drew world attention. In 1993, for example, The New York Times identified the Dhaka University as the 'most violent campus in the world'. Akhil Poddar's survey (Campus Violence in three Decades) published in the Daily Janakantha (4 May 2001) shows the causalities of campus violence in three decades since 1974 thus: murders 128, seriously wounded 4290. Campus-wise distribution of casualties is: Dhaka University 72, Rajshahi University 25, Chittagong University 11, Bangladesh Agricultural University 8, Islamic University (Kushtia) 7, and Jahangirnagar University 5.

While all significant student organizations were affected by the deadly violence, the most severely affected party was the Student League which lost 75 of its members in the last 30 years. Several causes may be attributed to the macabre campus violence, such as, factionalism, attempts to eliminate opponent student fronts and factions, occupying hall of residence for establishing dominance, tender-business, settling personal scores, and so on.
All major political parties and most political leaders maintain armed cadres who are supplied by student fronts and factions. Invariably, the armed cadres have their protectors or 'godfathers' who have the power and influence in the administration to shield them from the law. As a result, in spite of many punitive laws enacted by governments from time to time, no government has been able to restore peace in the campus.

If murder, wounding and extorting have been the most extreme forms of campus violence since 1974, in recent years, violence on female students has given a new dimension to campus violence. Rape, kidnapping, teasing and forced marriages are now on the list of incidents associated with campus violence. Among the less horrifying acts of violence are occupation by force of a hall of residence by a student party or group, ousting rival residents of a hall from their seats, forcing other bonfires residents to share their seats with their cronies, and compelling them to join party processions and movements.

Though campus violence is planned by leading student activists, its actual execution is carried out by their armed cadres who carry with them clandestinely, but sometimes very openly, weapons such as home-made bombs and crackers, knives, daggers and fire arms. They are not necessarily students. Most of them are recruited at a price from school dropouts, slump dwellers and broken families. They are trained in making and to throw bombs at targets, and in use of firearms.

There are reasons to believe that student organizations differ from each other not only in political beliefs and practices, but also in methods of perpetrating campus violence. If one party is prone to throwing bombs at targets, another to use of firearms, and still another to maiming victims. The long term trends of campus violence clearly indicate that ruling party students have been predominantly using firearms, the mainstream opposition students have been resorting to bomb-throwing, and an ideologically charged third group have been using both sophisticated fire-arms to dispirit police and opponents on the one hand, and knives and daggers to scare off their enemies by cutting their tendons and ligaments, on the other.

The methods and forms of campus violence are seen to have undergone fundamental changes. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the politics and ideologies of the time characterized campus violence. In the late 1980s, campus violence began to show symptoms of ordinary criminality like kidnapping for ransom, toll collection, influencing the administration at gun-point, rape, occupying halls of residence, tender-business and so on. In the 1990s, these sorts of violence seem to have been firmly established. One reason for such a turn of events is certainly the lack of good governance. The most violent elements on the campuses, according to newspaper reports, are the student groups and factions sheltered by the ruling party leadership. In spite of the election system, the chief executives of the campuses are appointed with the blessings and support of the ruling party, and hence, they can hardly proceed to take strong action against the cadres of the party. Campus violence is also indirectly associated with the system of education and campus management.

A Brif History of Student Politics in Bangladesh

Student Politics gave a new dimension to Bengal politics in the early twentieth century. The revolutionary terrorist movement, Swadeshi movement and the non-cooperation movement made student politics institutionalized in the first quarter of the 20th century. But it cannot be asserted that there was no student politics in the nineteenth century. The young Bengal movement was an act of students, though it was essentially an intellectual response to western education. Non-conformism was their hallmark. But the Young Bengal group also addressed social and other issues which later became a part of politics. In early 1870s, Surendranath Byanarjee formed an association of students with an object of infusing nationalist feelings among the Indians. During the same period, Ananda Mohan Bose invited students to join politics, and he held political classes with students. But the existing political, economic and social conditions and most importantly, disciplinary styles of school and college authorities, debarred the students from showing interest in politics. Qualifying oneself by some education for a job under the colonial government was the highest ambition of students of all classes until the end of the nineteenth century.
The incentive to student activism from the early 20th century came from the nationalist movement launched by the western educated middle class. Despite their involvement in nationalist politics, the Bengal students did not have an organization of their own until 1928 when All Bengal Students Association was formed at the Congress initiative with Pramod Kumar Ghoshal as president and Birendra Nath Das Gupta, a student of Jadavpur (National) Engineering College and editor of the Chhatra (student) as secretary. The launching ceremony of the organization was presided over by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Subhas Chandra Bose was present as guest speaker. The constitution of the organization was modeled on that of the Indian national congress. It provided for a central council and a nineteen-member working committee. Though not mentioned in its constitution, the All Bengal Students Association was ostensibly the student wing of the Congress.

In the political activities of the 1920s, Muslim students were almost totally absent. Muslim parents and politicians were in favor of keeping their wards away from politics. However, inspired by the Congress sponsored All Bengal Students Association some Muslim intellectuals of Dhaka felt to have a student organization of their own. So, there was a Muslim student conference at Dhaka on 12 July 1930. Dr. Muhammed Shahidullah of Dhaka University was authorized to form a Muslim student association which was formed in 1932 styled as all Bengal Muslim students' association. Its declared aim was not to join political activities. Earlier, Lt. Col. H. Suhrawardy, the Vice chancellor of Calcutta University urged upon Muslim students to eschew politics.

But it was very evident that All Bengal Muslim Students' Association was guided by Muslim political leaders. Muslim politicians of various factions had tried to establish their control on the association. Thus the students of Taylor Hostel and Carmichael Hostel expressed their loyalty to two different parties; Muslim league and Krishak Praja party respectively, though they belonged to the same association. The elections of 1937 much intensified the process. Mohammed Ali Jinnah established an all India based student association called All India Muslim Students Federation in 1937. Its Bengal chapter was opened in Calcutta in the same year. Until the elections of 1937 few students were interested in these politically sponsored associations.

But since the elections of 1937 and the increasing expansion of the Muslim League spreading over Bengal under Jinnah, students tended to follow the Muslim League leadership. The houses of the Ispahanis of Calcutta and the Khwajas of Dhaka were instrumental in bringing the student politics under the firm control of the Muslim League. The Bengal chapter of the All India Muslim Students Association was renamed in 1938 as All Bengal Muslim Students League. The reorganized party was headed by Abdul Wasek of Dhaka. Shamsur Rahman of Jessore became its general secretary. It was this Muslim Students League that could draw a large number of student support from East Bengal. Its patron was the Nawab of Dhaka. It was the Muslim Students League which had organized the student participation on a large scale in the Pakistan movement.

The influence of the Khwaja family on the Muslim Students League eroded after the partition, particularly after Jinnah's pronouncement on the state language issue in 1948. The anti-Khwaja faction of the Muslim League broke away from the All Bengal Muslim Students League, and established East Pakistan Muslim Students League in 1948. This Students League spearheaded the language movement that began in that year. The contribution of students to this national issue is well known and well recognized. Student politics did not, however, subside after the language question was settled. The new post-partition politics created as many students' factions as there were political factions among the national politicians. Every political party or faction tried to float its own students' wing to organize crowds for it. Established in 1952, the East Pakistan Students' Union (Purba Pakistan Chhatra Union, after liberation Bangladesh Chhatra Union) was formed to promote left politics in East Bengal. Students' Force and National Students' Federation were later established to support various factions of the Muslim League and other rightist factions operating before and after the martial law of 1958.

The most crucial, and possibly the most glorious phase of student politics was the period from 1968 to 1971. Under the political setting of the early 1960s, most of the political parties got fragmented into various factions and with them the student parties were also segmented. The sub-division and fragmentation of student organizations made their public image highly dubious.

Then came an epoch-making turn in the history of student politics from 1966. The six-point program launched by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his subsequent imprisonment and implication in the Agartala conspiracy case helped students' organizations forge an unprecedented unity among themselves in support of six-point and demand for release of Sheikh Mujib from jail. To realize their goal, all student organizations formed a common platform called Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad (All Parties Students Resistance Council) in January 1969, and presented an eleven point charter of demands embodying in it both nationalist and socialist ideals. Initially the Parishad supported the Six-point movement, but later the student leadership developed the idea of making Bangladesh an independent country on the basis of Bengali nationalism. In its nationalist sense, the term Bangladesh was coined by the Parishad leadership. They also coined the nationalist slogan, Joy Bengal and all the associated nationalist slogans and symbols.

The great mass upsurge of early 1969 which forced Mohammad Ayub khan to withdraw the Conspiracy Case and release Sheikh Mujib unconditionally, was primarily mobilized by the Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad which in fact emerged as the major political force in the country. On his release from jail, Sheikh Mujib recognized their influence by publicly accepting the honor of the title 'Bangabandhu' from the Parishad.

Students’ politics, for the first time in its history, acquired an independent status and possessed independent political thought to pursue. After 1 March 1971, Parishad went ahead with the implementation of its nationalist thought, Bengali nationalism and Bangladesh nationhood. They raised Bangladesh flag on 2 March 1971. Next day they held a mammoth public gathering at Paltan Maidan and proclaimed independence and declared Sheikh Mujib the Father of the Nation. At the same meeting was also adopted the national song 'Amar Sonar Bangla'. Since then their program was to prepare the people for a war of liberation. Their aspirations found expression in the seventh March address of Sheikh Mujib.

Under the banner of the six point politics, the Parishad had organized the non-cooperation movement from March 2. The public support to the nationalist movement of students was so massive and Bangabandhu's image was so pervasive that a symbiotic relationship developed between the Six-point and nationalist politics. It seemed to be the understanding that if six-point failed, Joy Bengal nationalism must prevail.

The military crackdown of 25 March 1971 at midnight gave an instant and automatic validation to the declaration of independence made by students on 3 March 1971. The declaration of independence was virtually the confirmation of the Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad's earlier proclamation of independence. It must be noted that Mujibnagar government duly recognized the nationalist prose and idioms of the Sangram Parishad.

The astounding performance of student organizations during the war of liberation is universally recognized and well documented. That the students emerged as an independent political force is well attested by the role of students during the early post liberation period. Students could not agree with all the policy measures of the post liberation government. Their opposition to the government took the shape of forming a new student organization called Jatiya Samajtantrik Chhatra Dal. The government found it difficult to contain student unrest in spite of taking many hard measures taken against the agitating students.

Though they again showed their unity and might in the struggle against the regime of Hussain Muhammad Ershad and contributed to his eventual ouster in 1991, the image of student politics since that time began to erode fast. Various factors may be attributed to it. First is the loss of independence of student politics. Increasingly student organizations were becoming subservient to various political parties to which they had their affiliations. Affiliation degenerated into a patron client relationship. In order to establish their control over student fronts, the major political parties and their factions began to enlist even non-students into the leadership of student organizations. The non-student leaders of various student organizations were used in intra and inter party political rivalries in which, more often than not, even firearms were used.

The legacy of War of Liberation could not be turned into a national vision for a transformation and progress. Training in firearms was utilized in eliminating the rival groups or individuals. Political murders and other crimes committed by the armed cadres of various student parties contributed to the rapid fall of the image of student politics in the public estimation. Consequently, a public sentiment is now growing in favor of abolishing student politics altogether.

Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Goshthi

Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigoshthi cultural mass organisation founded by Satyen Sen & Ranesh Dashgupta on 29 October 1968, in the wake of the mass uprising against autocracy and to build a communist society. It is a non-communal and progressive cultural organisation which believes in using music for political purposes. The activities of Udichi have spread throughout the country, turning it into a powerful cultural and political organisation.
After 1972 Udichi branched out into music, drama, dance, fine arts and literature. At present it has a central council comprising sixty-five members, a district council of forty-one members and a branch council of twenty-five members. There are seventy-one district councils under the Dhaka centre, and 212 branch councils under the district councils. The district councils have an impressive list of different departments: twenty recitation departments, twenty-three drama departments, sixteen dance departments, fourteen music schools, seven fine arts departments, and one literary department. They have seven libraries as well as a children's school. At present the organisation has 4,000 members. It also has four foreign branches in the USA, England, Australia and Canada.
Udichi has staged over twenty plays, with the majority being street plays. Among its major stage productions are Narak Guljar, Michhil, Dhala Geramer Nam, Abhishapta Nagari, Chirakumar Sabha, Bibaha Utsab, Shubhra Timir and Chile Kothar Sepai. The street plays include Aro Manus Chai, Din Badaler Pala, Raja Raja Khela, Madarir Khel, Tebhagar Pala, Rajakarer Pyanchali, Svadhinatar Sanggram, Itihas Katha Kao, etc. Itihas Katha Kao has been performed 1,050 times.

Bangladesh Students' Union

Bangladesh Students' Union (Bangladesh Chhatra Union) is a left-leaning political organization in Bangladesh. It was established in 26 April 1952.
BSU functions as an independent students' organisation for the student right as an interest group. During the Liberation War, BSU had its own guerrilla units.In 1 January 1973 Motiul & Kader martyed to show the anti-imperialist movement by a procession in Dhaka against the Vietnam aggression by America.Motiul & Kader are given the honour of National Hero by Vietnam.
The Central Executive Body of BSU consists of 41 members.

Ex General Secretary
Bangladesh Students' Union
University of Rajshahi Unit
Member
Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Goshthi