In Kol classrooms but protesting friends in Bangladesh on mind
Times of India | 20 July 2024
Kolkata: The protests over quotas in the neighbouring country have kept Bangladeshi nationals studying here on tenterhooks. While some of them have been part of earlier student agitations, a few also have relatives and friends back home who are now protesting on campuses.
Haru, who is a former student of Dhaka University, is now studying editing at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI).He is constantly in touch with his family. “I was part of the quota reform protest in 2018. The situation had turned violent then as well. There was no death then. But this time, things have taken on a violent dimension with so many deaths. The insinuation that likened students with ‘razakars’ which means traitors is insulting for us. I find it extremely derogatory. Even school students are part of the protests. My brother Abhra and his friends joined the protesters. He is in Class VIII,” he said.
Rangpur boy Russell Robin, a fourth-year student of vocal music at Rabindra Bharati University, has been spending sleepless nights since Wednesday. “My siblings are part of this protest. My brother was injured in the protest and was hospitalised in Rangpur. Once he recovers, I would want him to join the protesters. If I was there in Rangpur, I too would have joined him. This fight is for securing our future,” Russell said.
Muhammad Tasneemul Hasan, another SRFTI student of the producing department, is monitoring news on YouTube and television channels. “I am secure here but am distressed about my family in Gazipur. If I was at home now, I would have joined the protestors. My elder brother has been a casualty of this quota system and hasn’t yet succeeded in securing a govt job,” Tasneemul said.
RBU visual arts department student Pathik Biswas expressed his anxiety as he has not been able to contact his family in Dhaka. “The news reports and the disturbing visuals from Bangladesh have left me distraught. My cousins are currently studying in Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University. The rapid escalation of the situation has deeply pained me. The students were engaging in peaceful protests, and there was absolutely no justification for the govt and the police to resort to such violent measures,” Biswas lamented.
A Visva-Bharati student, originally from Gaibanda, expressed that if she had the means and opportunity, she would have gone to Bangladesh to stand in solidarity with her friends. “The current state of affairs is deeply worrying and unsettling, as we had never anticipated such a response from the govt,” she added.