After farewell meeting with PM, 2 top JCD leaders reflect on tenure, recall ‘mob’ violence

After a farewell meeting with BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Thursday night, the two top leaders of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) reflected on their tenure in lengthy Facebook posts, highlighting their role in the July mass uprising and recalling the challenge of confronting hundreds of ‘mobs’ during the tenure of the interim government.

JCD central president Rakibul Islam and general secretary Nasir Uddin, along with three other members of the organisation’s top leadership—collectively known as the ‘Super Five’—met Tarique Rahman at his political office in Gulshan on Thursday night.

Rakibul and Nasir assumed the organisation’s top two positions on 1 March 2024, meaning their committee has completed nearly two and a half years.

Following the meeting, Rakibul posted a lengthy message on his verified Facebook account. He expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the late Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, outgoing BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the party’s student affairs secretary, Rakibul Islam Bakul, for giving him the opportunity to lead the JCD for an extended period.

He also thanked leaders of allied student organisations and others who had supported him during the anti-fascist movement.

Reflecting on his tenure, Rakibul said he was proud of the leaders of the JCD central committee, as well as those at universities and colleges, claiming that none of them had been the subject of undesirable news reports.

He said they had led their respective units with honesty and dedication despite severe financial difficulties.

He also said he had personally sought to promote positive student politics across campuses and had taken particular care to ensure that no ordinary student faced an undesirable situation at the hands of JCD activists.

Rakibul described the organisation’s coordination with the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement during the July mass uprising and its role on the streets as the principal achievement of his committee.

He said that following 5 August 2024, JCD leaders had to confront hundreds of ‘mobs’ at educational institutions across the country, while continuing to lead the organisation despite sustained bullying on social media.

In his concluding remarks, Rakibul said he wanted to begin a new chapter in his life and become a more refined, humane and honest person.

Acknowledging that he, too, had made mistakes during his long tenure, he asked anyone he might have hurt to forgive him and expressed hope that everyone would warmly accept the organisation’s incoming committee.

JCD General Secretary Nasir Uddin posted a similar message on Facebook on Friday morning, saying it was his final day in the post.

Describing his tenure as a long, difficult, eventful and simultaneously proud chapter, Nasir said numerous memories of struggle, success, failure, joy and sorrow were coming back to him, above all the affection of his fellow activists.

He described July-August 2024 as the most difficult chapter of their tenure. Keeping leaders and activists active on the streets, encouraging them and involving every level of the organisation in the movement had been their greatest challenge, he said.

Nasir also recalled working with Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, Abdul Kader and other leading coordinators of the then Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement.

He said they had attached considerable importance to working with the JCD during the movement and expressed gratitude to them, despite saying that political realities may have meant the organisation’s contribution was not always equally acknowledged afterwards. “But we’re grateful to them. This is because, those who worked together in times of crisis—history will judge the value of that cooperation as immeasurable.”

He described the ‘mob culture’ during the interim government as another major challenge. Amid various forms of propaganda, misinformation, confusion and political pressure, keeping the JCD active on the streets, maintaining unity among its leaders and activists, and ensuring responsible political conduct had been a constant challenge, he said.

Nasir said more than 2,000 organisational committees had been formed during their tenure, stressing that this was not the achievement of any individual but the result of the collective efforts of JCD leaders and activists at every level.

Concluding his post, Nasir said he was leaving a position of responsibility, but not his relationships, struggle or ideals.

He expressed hope that the JCD would become stronger under its next leadership and wished his fellow activists a bright future.