Bangladesh Chhatra League

Bangladesh Chhatra League
বাংলাদেশ ছাত্রলীগ
President Saifur Rahman Sohag
Secretary General S.M. Jakir Hossain
Founded January 4, 1948
Mother party Bangladesh Awami League
Website bsl.org.bd

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ ছাত্রলীগ) formerly known as East Pakistan Student League is a students' political organisation in Bangladesh, founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on January 4, 1948. Currently it is working under Bangladesh Awami League.

History

When British India was partitioned and the independent dominions of India and Pakistan were created in 1947, the region of Bengal was divided along religious lines. The predominantly Muslim eastern half was designated East Pakistan — and made part of the newly independent state of Pakistan — while the predominantly Hindu western part became the Indian state of West Bengal.

Pakistan's history was marked by political instability and economic difficulties. Dominion status was rejected in 1956 in favor of an "Islamic Republic within the Commonwealth." Attempts at civilian political rule failed and the government imposed martial law between 1958 and 1962 and again between 1969 and 1971.

Soon after partition, frictions developed between East and West Pakistan, which were separated by more than 1,000 miles of Indian territory. East Pakistanis felt exploited by West Pakistan. Linguistic, cultural and ethnic differences contributed to the estrangement of East from West Pakistan. Bengalis strongly resisted attempts to impose Urdu as the country's sole official language. Responding to these grievances, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on January 4, 1948 formed a students' organization called the Chhatra League.

BCL, known as the East Pakistan Student League, formed on January 4, 1948. Naimuddin Ahmed became its first convener, Dabirul Islam became President and Khaleque Nawaz Khan became General Secretary. The League participated in the Bengali language movement, the 1962 "education commission" movement, the 1966 six point movement, and the 1969 "Egaro Dofa Andolon" (11 Point Movement).

The founder General Secretary of Chatra League Khaleque Nawaz Khan defeated incumbent Prime Minister of the then East Pakistan Nurul Amin in the Jukto Front election in 1954 in Nandail constituency of Mymensingh.

1971 War

During the 1971 Liberation War, the members of the Chhatra League were recruited into Mujib Bahini, an armed group trained by RAW, aimed at fighting against the leftist freedom fighters and to bar them from taking the lead in the war.[1] Mujib Bahini was accused of being involved in hooliganism and looting after the end of war.[2] The incident happened during the nationwide strike called by Bangladesion Nationalist Party. Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 sentenced eight of the accused to death and awarded life sentences to 13 others in the case.[3]

Crime

Factional feud

Infighting and factionalism within the BCL is often violent.[4] February 2010, Faruk, a university student from the Awami League, was killed during a clash within different factions in Rajshahi. However, the Awami League blames all these attacks on the Islami Chhatra Shibir.[4]

Abubakar Siddique was a brilliant student at Dhaka University from a very poor family. He was injured during a factional clash of Bangladesh Chhatra League at Sir AF Rahman Hall on February 2, 2010 and died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital the following day.[5][6]

On March 19, 2010, Two BCL factions of Dhaka College engaged in a fierce clash on the campus Tuesday night over gaining control of the dormitories. Police conducted overnight raids in all the seven dormitories. They arrested 58 students, mostly BCL cadres, and recovered 52 bullets.[7]

On March 19, 2010, Eight activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League were injured in a factional clash on Rajshashi University (RU) campus.[8]

On April 25, 2010, Bangladesh Chhatra League units and some other student organisations in Chittagong decided to jointly resist the agitating fraction of BCL, Chittagong University (CU) unit that called an indefinite strike on the campus demanding resignation of the vice-chancellor.[9]

Tender Theft

On April 09, 2010, A Bangladesh Chhatra League activist was killed and 20 people were injured yesterday in factional clashes among ruling party men over dropping bid documents in Panchagarh and Dinajpur.[10]

Vandalism

On May 04, 2010, A group of local youths under the banner of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) went on a rampage and vandalised the park after the park authorities refused to meet their demand for courtesy tickets ahead of the opening of new chalets at the park resort on April 14.[11]

Murder and torture

On April 05, 2010, A group of activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) beat up two journalists at Shahbagh in the city for publishing a report against the central unit president. The journalists were identified as Anis Raihan, staff correspondent of the weekly Saptahik, and Ahmed Fayez, staff correspondent of the weekly Budhbar.[12]

On December 9, 2012 BCL activists were filmed beating and hacking to death Biswajit Das, a young bystander.[13] The incident happened during the nationwide strike called by Bangladesion Nationalist Party. Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 sentenced eight of the accused to death and awarded life sentences to 13 others in the case.[3]

On February 2, 2014, armed members of its unit in the University of Rajshahi are believed to have joined police in attacking students protesting fee hikes.[14]

Rape

On September 29, 2009 Ten activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) allegedly gang-raped a teenage girl at night and were later handed down mere punishment at village arbitration arranged to ensure their escape by local Awami League leaders.[15]

On September 14, 2015 Habiganj Police arrested a leader of Kagapasha union unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) from Borohati village of Baniachong upazila for allegedly raping a schoolgirl.[16]

On October 5, 2015 four people including two activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League and one of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal were sued on Monday on charge of gang raping a schoolgirl at Chaugachha in Jessore.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ahmed, Taib; Islam, Khadimul (December 16, 2014). "'Mujib Bahini didn't fight liberation war'". The New Age. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ "AK Khandker sued for 'Mujib Bahini's looting' claim". The Daily Star. September 10, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Eight to die for Biswajit murder, 13 get life". bdnews24.com. December 18, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Islam, Md Saidul (March 2011). "'Minority Islam' in Muslim Majority Bangladesh". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 31 (1): 133–134. ISSN 1360-2004. doi:10.1080/13602004.2011.556893.
  5. ↑ Thedailystar. "DU probing Abubakar's death". www.thedailystar.net. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  6. ↑ Wikileaks. "BANGLADESH- (UPDATE) DU student dies after BCL clash". www.wikileaks.org. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  7. ↑ "BCL faction takes control of Dhaka College hall". The Daily Star. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  8. ↑ "8 hurt in BCL factional clash at RU". The Daily Star. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  9. ↑ "BCL versus BCL". The Daily Star. 2010-04-25. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  10. ↑ "Murder too over tender". The Daily Star. 2010-04-09. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  11. ↑ "BCL resorts to vandalism in Ctg amusement park". The Daily Star. 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  12. ↑ "BCL men beat two journos". The Daily Star. 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  13. ↑ Kashem, M. A. (December 31, 2012). "Bishwajit killers must be punished". The Daily Star. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  14. ↑ "RU closed sine die". The Daily Star. February 2, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  15. ↑ "10 BCL men rape girl". The Daily Star. September 29, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  16. ↑ "BCL leader held for rape". The Independent. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal united in raping schoolgirl - New Age". New Age. October 5, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Chhatra Dal leader, Chhatra League activists arrested for ‘raping’ teenage girl in Jessore". bdnews24.com. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.