The “League Dhor” (Catch the League) marathon organised by the Dhaka University unit of Islami Chhatra Shibir last Friday was intended as a symbolic reminder of the resistance against the now-banned Chhatra League, said Md Abu Shadik (Shadik Kayem), vice president of Ducsu and immediate past leader of Shibir.
Talking to The Daily Star, he said the event also aimed to warn against any future attempt to revive what they described as the politics of intimidation on campus.
The event commemorated the resistance mounted by general students against alleged BCL violence on the DU campus in the early hours of July 17, 2024, he added.
The marathon began at Curzon Hall at 7:00am and ended at the Raju Memorial Sculpture after passing through the Central Shaheed Minar, TSC, Mohsin Hall, and the Arts Building.
According to DU Shibir sources, around 1,000 students registered through a Google Form and participated wearing red-and-white T-shirts.
Eyewitnesses said four to five helmet-wearing individuals carrying sticks appeared during the marathon. Participants chased them, caught them, and gave them symbolic beatings.
Organisers said the helmeted individuals represented Chhatra League members and that the demonstration was meant to encourage students to resist any attempt by the organisation -- currently banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act -- to return to campus.
However, the event also drew criticism.
Some students argued that, much like the “Shibir Dhor” slogans once used by Chhatra League, organising a programme around chasing and symbolically beating opponents risked normalising the same culture of intimidation and violence.
A female DU student told The Daily Star, “Many students took this as a joke. But two years after the fall of fascism, such an event does not indicate a healthy change. Symbolically chasing people on a campus that aspires to be discrimination- and fear-free can create a new culture of fear.”
Another student said, “After the power equation has changed, a new force is celebrating by chasing the opposing side in much the same way the previous one once did. While no one was physically attacked, repeatedly staging such symbolic acts could eventually contribute to a violent campus environment.”
Responding to the criticism, Shadik, who joined the event as a guest, said, “We tried to convey the message that the politics of terrorism should never return to the campus and a democratic environment based on coexistence must be ensured.”
Asked whether such symbolic chases were consistent with that goal, the Ducsu VP said the programme was intended to raise awareness against terrorism, and students had participated spontaneously.
Similarly, at Rajshahi University, the Bijoy ‘24 Hall Union organised a “De Dhaoa” (Chase Them) mini-marathon on July 16.
Calling it a symbolic programme, Rucsu General Secretary Salahuddin Ammar said it represented the history of the July 2024 uprising but stressed that students should never take the law into their own hands.
“If there are allegations against Chhatra League, we inform the proctor and try to handle the situation responsibly,” he said.
No such programme was held at Jahangirnagar University or Chattogram University.
CU Shibir President Ibrahim Hossain Rony said Shibir would instead hold a protest procession demanding implementation of the spirit of the July uprising and the trial of the “associates of fascism”.
Jucsu VP Abdur Rashid Jitu said there was no scope to trivialise the July uprising.
“We are also organising programmes at JU, but we are trying to ensure they set an example. July is enormously important to us. There is no scope to make fun of it,” he said.
Prof Tanzimuddin Khan of International Relations at DU said such programmes could send the wrong message to students and society.
“This symbolically promotes the practice of taking the law into one’s own hands. Freshers may think this is the culture of the campus. Ensuring justice is the responsibility of the administration and the proctor’s office, not students,” he said.
Contacted, DU Proctor Md Israfil Prang said they had understood the programme to be simply a marathon, but it later turned out to be something else.
“They did it as fun, but in my opinion, nothing should be done that leaves a negative impression,” he said.
“The tendency to chase someone or take the law into one’s own hands is by no means desirable. There are laws for everything. Neither students nor political activists have the authority to dispense justice,” he added.
[Our DU, JU, RU, and CU correspondents contributed to this report]
