Don’t stop till the dream comes true

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus yesterday urged key organisers of the student-led mass uprising to continue their efforts to make students’ and the people’s dream of a new Bangladesh come true.
“For the dream, they sacrificed their lives. We must make that dream a reality. We have no way of getting out of this,” he said.
Not only the people of the country are eager to build a new nation, Bangladeshis all over the world are saying that they want to be a part of realising the dream, he said.
Yunus said when he sees the graffiti on the walls, it surprises him. “How did the students come up with so many words?” There were no poets, no writers, and no scholars behind them, he said at a views-exchange meeting with the students at the Chief Adviser’s Office yesterday.
Warning the students that there might be efforts to sideline them from their nation-building work, he said, “Don’t give up until the job that you have taken up is done.”
Students have awakened a wave; they have also awakened the youth of the whole world. “The youth of other countries also say they want to learn about us because they need this in their country too,” Yunus said.
He urged the students to write to him at least once in month so that the government does not go off course.
Bangladeshis did not get such an opportunity to rebuild the country since its birth. All should remain alert so that no one could take this away, he said, adding that if the opportunity was taken away, there would be no future for Bangladesh.
Nearly 150 students from various educational institutions who played key roles on the ground during the uprising were present at the event.
WHAT LEADERS SAID
The student leaders recommended the interim government to take steps to control the ongoing “mob justice”, price hike of essentials, and ensure voting rights of the people by reforming the Election Commission.
They said students’ and teachers’ politics should remain outside the campus. They also expressed concerns over border killings.
A woman student leaders said a teacher or a student may have their own political ideology, but on campus they should only be a teacher or a student.
“We don’t want to see any politically labelled teacher or student on campus,” she said, adding that collaborators of fascism must be resisted in all sectors.
She said the government must control the prices in kitchen markets. It should focus on increasing crop production by providing subsidies to farmers, lowering the costs of pesticides, diesel, and agricultural equipment.
Another student leader said religion has consistently been used as a political tool and this has to be stopped.
He noted that law and order has not been fully restored yet and urged that this issue be addressed as soon as possible.
He called upon the interim government to allocate a greater portion of the GDP to the education sector.
Another student leader appealed to Yunus to take steps so that those who go abroad for postgraduate and PhD degrees return home afterwards.
“It seems to me that the brain drain is more dangerous than the laundering of thousands of crores of taka,” the student leader said.
A student leader pointed out that controlling “mob justice” is one of the main tasks of the interim government now.
If mob justice is not controlled and if it spreads to different parts of the society, then a vested group can infiltrate and definitely try to destroy the students’ unity, the leader said.
Briefing reporters later on at the Foreign Service Academy, Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Mahfuj Alam said issues related to Bangladesh-India relations came up for discussion during the views exchange.
“Sir [Prof Yunus] repeatedly said that we need good relations with our neighbours, but it needs to be based on equity, honour, and justice.”
Asked about the recommendations of the students, Mahfuj said, “The government has a clear position regarding mob justice. It can no way be allowed.”
He said the law would take its own course in dealing with mob justice in any form, like attacking mazars, temples or any person.
“People will not ‘try’ anyone who was part of the fascist government or the sycophants that surrounded it. Rather, they will remain alert so that there is no compromise [with the perpetrators] and no one betrays the martyrs and those who got injured,” Mahfuj said.
He said that the government has already taken some stern actions and will take more strong measures.
Mahfuj said at the event, a student of BRAC University raised the issue of religions being used in politics, but there were no discussions regarding the matter.
On students’ politics, Mahfuj said at the event, many agreed that the kind of student politics Chhatra League and Awami League practised should not return to campuses.
There is an ongoing debate and discussion at educational institutions about what kind of politics the students and teachers can be involved in on campuses. The government will decide only after seeing a consensus reached through that debate, he said.
Asked about large number of people being accused in cases, Mahfuj said that a due and standard process should be followed when a case is filed.