Staff Reporter:President Abdul Hamid on Saturday urged the student community to come forward to bring back student politics on the correct track and regain the lost glory once it used to enjoy.
�...the tide of youth never stops and I do trust their tide won't stop in the future, too. You must fix the highest priority to the interest of the country and the nation than the individual and familial gains,� he told the 50th convocation of Dhaka University on its campus.
The president said the country's student community has a glorious role in Bangladesh's political history as they played a leading role in the 71 liberation war, the 1952 language movement, six-point movement and other democratic movements of the country.
Students of Dhaka University throw their hats into the air celebrating its 50th convocation on the campus on Saturday. ? Ali Hossain Mintu
The student community always comes forward to resist all threats to the country's independence and sovereignty for which many of them had been harassed and sent to jail, he said.
Noting that there is no alternative to political leadership for the nation's development which is complementary to democracy, Hamid said honest and competent leadership must be built up in the country through student politics to strengthen the foundation of democracy.
�I, myself, started politics through student politics. But, there's a huge difference between today's student politics and that of ours. During the 60s, the aims and objectives of student politics were to ensure welfare of the nation and the country,� he said.
Students used to lead and control the politics in the past when there had been no space for dependence and common people showed respect to them, the president said, adding, �But now it is seen that individual or group interest is getting priority in student politics,� he said.
�Sometimes, non-students control student politics. Thus, the trust, support and respect of people, even of general students, to student politics are decreasing gradually. This is not good for the nation and the country.�
Asking the students to get united to get the student politics on the right path and start ideology-based and welfare-oriented politics, he said: �The student community has to play a leading role in this regard.�