We are no longer dealing with Homo economicus, who carefully weighs costs and benefits, but with Homo psychologicus, the irrational agent (I owe this neat little distinction to David Houghton).
In Bangladesh, the student politicians serve as private armies to the two royal families, the House of Mujib and the House of Zia (currently incarnated in Sheikh Hasina, Mujib's daughter, and Khaleda Zia, Zia's widow, the leaders of the two political parties).
The ruling Awami League's student front is called the Chatra League (Chatra means student), and it also has a youth wing called the Jubo League (Jubo means young); the corresponding bodies of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party are the Jatiyatabadi (nationalist) Chatra Dal (JCD) and Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal. Collectively, they may be compared to the Hitler Youth or Mao Zedong's Red Guards.
The respectable appellation 'student politician' would, however, be inapt. As we have seen, they are monsters. I suggest the term 'student thugs', to capture the genus and species: 'student' because they are not hired musclemen, and 'thug' because most students are their antithesis, diligent and pacific.
They are the personnel behind the hartals. Without them, there would be no bombings, no immolations. That is to say, they are indispensable to the parties and their leaders.
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