Many years ago I was walking through the campus of one of the premier government medical colleges in the country. The sound of howling came from far away. A little further, I came in front of the canteen adjacent to the medical college and realized that inside the canteen a group of medical students were preparing to go out to the college campus with a procession. They are chanting slogans from inside the canteen about the late leader of their political party creating tension. Within minutes, their small group marched out to the campus chanting slogans. When the students of the medical college make the campus vibrate with the slogans of a political party, then no one is left to understand the state of medical education!

2.

I have heard from several famous doctors that the pressure of studying in medical college is very high. Under the pressure of studies, they often became disorientated. A civil surgeon of a district once told me verbatim that while studying in medical college he used to have a book in his hand like many others while waiting for food in the dining room. That is, the pressure of medical studies at that time was so high that they did not have time to pay attention to any other direction, there was no time to waste; Political march-meeting is a long way off! So whether standing in the queue in front of the dining room or at the tea table inside the canteen, always just read and read. And most of the medical college students these days spend a great deal of their time studying politics. Most of them became followers of some political party!

With this, the question arises in my own mind, what is the lack of medical students? They are among the best talents of the country. They prove their merit and get admitted in government medical colleges by facing one of the most competitive entrance exams in the country. These medical students cherished the dream of serving people for many years. So what reason can there be, they have to move under the umbrella of a political party? Why do political party leaders and activists have to come out with their procession on campus? They can adopt the ideology of a political party of their choice; No problem with that. But the question is, why would most of the students of an important professional educational institution like the medical college get involved in the political party? For what? Is politics the only reason behind this, or is there any other reason behind it? Is this kind of political march-meeting seen in educational institutions of developed countries?

It deserves serious consideration that it is possible to maintain the quality of the medical system with those who get involved in the politics of political parties at the beginning of their medical education. Many people think that there is no obstacle for medical college students to have their own organization. They can draw the attention of the authorities about their needs, problems etc. through that organization. If so, then there is no need to associate them with political parties. It's not that they don't understand, either. However, there is no instance of this in reality.

This is not the only case of medical college students getting involved in political party activities. Most of the medical college teachers are also getting involved in the politics of political parties; But why? Nowadays, it can be seen that most of the teachers and doctors are divided by the ideology and philosophy of some political party. Medical teachers-doctors are not barred from professional organization. But when their organization has to identify with the political party identity instead of their professional identity, when the teacher-physicians themselves become blind followers of the political party, the problem arises. When the government is in power, fierce competition starts between some teachers-doctors to strengthen (?) the hand of that government! Who will be able to attract the attention of the highest leadership of the political party first, that effort is always revealed!

What is the status of students and teachers of the university as other higher education institutions in terms of politics also needs to be brought into discussion. In the meantime, news has come out in the media, student politics has been banned in about 33 higher educational institutions of the country. According to the description of the published news, in the face of students' demands, at least 19 government universities, 4 government colleges and 10 government medical colleges of the country banned student politics. In 27 of these, apart from banning student politics, the politics of teachers and officials have also been banned. A few days ago, a meeting of the Syndicate of the University discussed about stopping all kinds of political activities of students, teachers and officials-employees in the Dhaka University campus until further instructions. However, even though a large part of the general students demanded an end to party-based student politics on campus, the student organizations are not in favor of it. Thus, it is seen that there are strong differences in favor and opposition in keeping party politics active through the participation of students, teachers, officials and employees in the campuses of educational institutions.

On the other hand, among the university teachers, there are followers of various colors. Some of them are white, some are covered with blue color. Here too, when the political party is in power in the state, the organization of teachers following that party is more influential and authoritative. In other words, no teacher-students of opposing political party ideologies exist in the campus. It is heard that various interests are working behind the creation of such a situation. Those who follow the government party are given, or hired, various lucrative positions; And others live in a kind of exile in the world of ordinary privileges! Besides, it is also heard that a part of the university teachers developed friendship with the student organization supporting the ruling political party. Many of them try to use students unethically for personal gain. Being the leaders and activists of the state ruling political party organization, the students also tried their best to facilitate the unethical benefits of those teachers. Later they again put pressure on the teachers to achieve their own interests. Such a game called 'give and take' began to revolve! Just like the common students are the silent spectators of this game, as a result of this, the common students are also the victims of various kinds of conflict activities on the campus. However, if ordinary students start protesting against all injustices, what happens then, no one needs to be told again today. Bloody examples of this are right before us. But if the teachers had a professional organization only among themselves, then they would have been able to strongly criticize the wrong policies of the government and give constructive suggestions to the government if necessary. The government also cooperated with them. What happens now is that what the supporters of one group of teachers criticize the government, the supporters of the ruling government party will express the opposite opinion. Sometimes these reasons lead to rivalry, conflict and hostility among themselves. There are ample examples of this in recent times. University teachers know very well how to overcome such situations. We only want the country's higher education institutions to become a unique place for everyone, all teachers, all students to express their opinions, practice knowledge, and create new knowledge; Which can truly keep the people of the country at ease.

Md. Mujibur Rahman : Professor (Education) and Ex-Principal, Government Teachers Training College (Women), Mymensingh