Campus cold war: Chhatra Dal vs. Shibir

Even before Sheikh Hasina fled, ending her near-16-year authoritarian rule, her primary street power, the Chhatra League (the student-wing of her party), was forced to withdraw from university campuses, creating a vacuum in student politics. However, ordinary students who had fought for the cause are unwilling to accept “old wine in a new bottle.” As a result, it was uncertain what the future of student politics would look like on campuses, or whether there would be any student politics at all. This uncertainty stemmed from one of the nine demands raised during the summer 2024 uprising. 

Against this backdrop, tension between two major student political organisations, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir and Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), has been brewing on several campuses, including Dhaka University (DU). Students now worry that the power struggle between these groups could lead to campus unrest.

“A serious cold war is ongoing between the two,” Tausiful Islam, a master’s student at DU, told Netra News.

“Shibir is dominating the campus right now. Although JCD members are fewer in number, they tend to come across as more aggressive,” said Ayman Mahmud, a second-year student of Japanese Studies at DU. “Recently, one of them made a remark to an ordinary student, saying, ‘since there’s no guest room, you guys are getting out of control — guest rooms are needed for you.’ This comment caused a stir at Sergeant Zahurul Huq Hall.”

Although the uproar came from ordinary students, JCD’s DU General Secretary Nahiduzzaman Shipon, claimed, “Many Shibir activists pose as ordinary students and spread propaganda against JCD.” JCD’s Central General Secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir echoed the sentiment, adding, “Nowadays, social media is crucial, and Shibir activists use it to spread propaganda and disinformation.” When asked how he identified Shibir members doing this, he said, “We spotted some profiles, and after investigating, we found them to be associated with Shibir or aligned with its ideology.” 

In response, Shibir’s Publicity Affairs Secretary Sadek Abdullah said that Shibir cannot take responsibility for the remarks of random people who might have worked with Shibir five to ten years ago, “Whenever we come across such posts, we take action. But we don’t willingly command or encourage writing against any other parties.”

On December 4th, the Jagannath University Journalist Association hosted a meeting with leaders from various campus organisations. JCD President Rakibul Islam Rakib attended, along with Shibir’s president. Later, according to a source, Rakib commented, “If I knew Shibir was there, I wouldn’t have joined the meeting.”

But on the surface, they seem to be co-existing in harmony, as Shadik Kayem, DU Shibir  President, noted, “Together we play badminton, have tea, even attend many seminars, and meetings.” While leaders from both groups told Netra News they want peaceful co-existence, they also urged each other to “act more responsibly.” This reflects lingering grievances and growing tensions, which began since Shibir publicly revealed its presence at DU.

The Brewing Tension

On September 22nd, in a shocking turn of events, a co-ordinator of the Students Against Discrimination movement, Abu Shadik Kayem, was revealed to be the president of DU Chhatra Shibir. This marked the public re-emergence of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student-wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, after a long hiatus.

Nasir welcomed the announcement with a hint of criticism, stating, “It is never possible to engage in people-oriented politics through covert activities. Being a leader of one group in secret while publicly holding a position in another organisation is deceitful behavior.”

Since then, Nasir and Rakib have provoked Shibir on multiple occasions. In an interview with Netra News, Nasir referred to Shibir as “terrorists”. Rakib described Shibir as a “covert” and “banned” organisation during an event on September 28th. “We challenge them to show moral courage by publicly disclosing every committee they have formed over the past 15 and a half years,” he said.

Shibir has exercised calm, refraining from responding in kind with verbal aggression. Regrettably, that has not been enough to keep trouble at bay. 

Following the announcement of a 14-member committee at DU, and revealing themselves at other campuses, including Jagannath University and University of Rajshahi, Shibir recently made another public appearance, this time at Jahangirnagar University with only a three-member committee. On November 19th, it participated in a cross-party discussion organised by the university administration to discuss student council elections.

However, controversy erupted shortly after the meeting began, with objections to Shibir’s inclusion, initially raised by JCD, reported BBC Bangla. Meanwhile, a few groups voiced their support for Shibir. The meeting ultimately descended into chaos, with slogans and counter-slogans from both sides, forcing its cancellation.

On December 5th, JCD hosted a meeting with leaders and activists from 31 student organisations. However, Shibir and the Students Against Discrimination movement were excluded. Reports suggest that many participants criticised Shibir’s “covert political activities,” while others condemned the “overbearing behaviour” of Students Against Discrimination activists.

There have been other incidents since August. On November 7th, JCD put up its parent party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) posters across various locations in DU. However, the posters displayed in dormitories garnered strong reactions from students. That night, a protest march was organised, ostensibly by general students, demanding a ban on student politics in the dormitories. This swift backlash put JCD in a challenging position at the outset of their campaign.

Although JCD accused Shibir of orchestrating the opposition, Shibir denied any involvement. JCD’s assumption in this case is seconded by sources on campus. Denying any involvement in protests or campaigns against JCD, Abdullah told Netra News, “[Shibir] doesn’t encourage politics in the residential halls. So, we don’t have hall-based committees. Rather we want to do campus-based politics.” 

Such situations are not limited to Dhaka. Similar incidents have also been reported at institutions outside the capital. In particular, the media has reported clashes or standoffs between JCD and Shibir at Chittagong Polytechnic Institute. Nasir says, “When our students tried to enter the halls, some students barred them, and then there was a clash. Later, we found out some of them were linked to Shibir. Even a Jamaat leader named Hannan Master was involved there.” Here too, Shibir denied all allegations.

JCD laid similar charges against Shibir at Chittagong College. A report from Daily Jugantor particularly triggered JCD secretary Nasir. He said, “The headline – JCD Struggles to Establish Presence at Martyr Wasim’s Chittagong College – puts us to shame and questions our organisational strength.”

Wasim Akram, a student of Chittagong College and a member of its JCD convening committee, was one of the first three individuals killed during the summer uprising in Chittagong. However, the report says, even in this institution heavy with symbolism, JCD leaders and activists have been repeatedly attacked.

A JCD leader told Jugantor that Shibir terrorists attacked them with sharp weapons. Shibir issued a press release denying any organisational activities at Chittagong College. The statement claimed that false and misleading information is being spread against Shibir as part of a conspiracy.

Therefore, though both parties “want peaceful co-existence” in their words, both decry plots against them perpetrated by the other.

The recent incident of excluding Shibir from an all-campus political organisation meeting attests to the rising tensions. In this regard, Rakib said, “We held discussions with those who have been fighting against fascism for the past 15 and a half years. The Students Against Discrimination movement does not consider itself a political student organisation, so they were not invited.” He further stated, “As for Shibir, they were not invited due to objections from many other organisations – and we do have objections too.”

Rakib asked, with Hasina now gone, why Shibir had to resort to “underground politics”, positing that such politics must have some “dishonest objectives.” He urged Shibir to identify their men. 

Abdullah responded, “It’s our organisational strategy. We don’t make a committee of a lot of members. Our core committee is small and other activists are known by their activities. We don’t announce names of all those who work with us.”

JCD is repeatedly asking them to come out in public. “We need to know who are Shibir activists on campuses. Otherwise, when we catch someone slandering us, Shibir can reject that they are a member” added Rakib.

For their part, ordinary students like Islam and Mahmud fear that if Shibir starts to respond to such comments and actions, there is a serious threat of campus unrest. A cold war need not remain cold forever, and the historical precedent of violence by student-wing cadres in Bangladesh does not offer comfort.●