Academic activities have come to a standstill at Jhenaidah Government Keshab Chandra (KC) College following a flare-up of violent unrest between student activists from Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir. Fearing a complete breakdown in law and order, the college management has suspended all classes and imposed an indefinite ban on political gatherings across the premises.
The decisions were formalised during an emergency Academic Council meeting chaired by the college principal, Professor Masrur-ul-Alam. In an official notice issued under the principal’s signature, the administration cited student safety as the primary justification for closing educational activities on 8 October. The directive explicitly prohibited all rallies, public assemblies, and political events until further notice.
Trouble brewed on the afternoon of 5 October over a contentious social media post. What began as a virtual argument rapidly spilled onto the college grounds, leading to aggressive confrontations and mutual chases between rival factions. The turbulence soon migrated into Jhenaidah town, where both organisations staged separate demonstrations, sharpening local anxieties.
The conflicting claims highlighting the rift reveal deep partisan animosities. According to the President of the college JCD unit, Babar Ali Mahfuz, a Chhatra Shibir activist published offensive remarks on Facebook directed at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. Mahfuz maintained that JCD members simply requested the removal of the post, which escalated into heated arguments and physical standoffs.
Conversely, Chhatra Shibir leaders framed the administrative crackdown as a direct disruption to their pre-planned schedule. The President of the college’s Chhatra Shibir branch, Shahriar Mahbub Islam, explained that his organisation had arranged a grand reception ceremony on campus for Thursday morning, complete with formally invited guests. The sudden ban on political gatherings effectively scuttled the event.
Jhenaidah Government KC College stands as one of the oldest and most significant higher education institutes in southwestern Bangladesh, serving thousands of higher secondary, degree, and postgraduate students. Violence and partisan friction on public college campuses have long posed a challenge to higher education in the country, often derailing academic calendars, forcing abrupt evacuations, and subjecting non-political students to prolonged delays in completing their degrees.
While the college notice framed the closures as necessary to restore calm, the ongoing suspension continues to disrupt regular academic routines. Repeated attempts to reach the college administration for further comments regarding when classes might resume yielded no response at the time of publication.
