The students have proven us wrong

When the students’ quota reform movement began, many persons rang me up from abroad to ask what ask going on. They were anxious to know where the country was headed. There was no use giving them a rundown on the incidents that were taking place every day. They were apprised about that. They got know of the unfolding events even when Facebook and internet were shut down. We were the ones in the dark. The government had plunged us into darkness.

It is the generation that we had imagined to be most detached from the country and the society, that have given the most lives to establish their rights. After many years we see teachers, lawyers, journalists, cultural activists and persons from all walks of life taking to the streets and expressing solidarity with the students. Teachers have been injured when rescuing students from police vehicles. Lawyers have said, “You will have to arrest us first before you arrest them.”

The citizens who have been divided into various camps have also united to join hands with the students. A friend from outside of Dhaka sent me an SMS, “All our perceptions about them have proven to be wrong. They will prove that further.”

The students have already proven that. Each and every programme of theirs has been innovative. They have a hypnotic power, creativity, that has drawn in the people from all over.

For long, to us politics meant processions, rallies, blockades, hartals and such. Or fiery speeches from political platforms. The students brushed aside all that and simply declared a “Bangla Blockade”. Then they called for a “March for Justice”. They demanded a resolution to the thousands of arrests of students and other innumerable innocent people. Another programme of theirs was “Remembering our Heroes”.

A few years ago in the US a young black man, George Floyd, was brutally assaulted by white police  and died. His death led to a massive movement there, “Black lives matter.” The movement in Bangladesh reminds us, “Student lives matter”.There students are not of any Awami League, BNP, Left or other camp.

They have demonstrated for the sake of justice. Their movement has been against the long-standing wrongs they have faced. When a justified and peaceful movement of the students was trivialized, when they were tarred with an objectionable insult, it was then that rebellion burst out in all campuses.

The students made it clear that they wanted no involvement of any political group in their movement. They wanted to carry out their own movement. But the ministers of the government failed to understand their pulse and set Chhatra League upon them.

The government tried to use force to quell the movement, and made one blunder after the other. The biggest mistake was for the Detective Branch of police to take six of the coordinators who were leading the movement, into custody. They were Nahid Islam, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, Asif Mahmud, Abu Baker Majumdar and Nusrat Tabassum.

We are aware that even a convicted person is given treatment in hospital if they fall ill. Yet three of these coordinators were picked up from hospital and taken to the DB office. The other three were picked up from their homes. One of these students was a girl. The ministers and Awami League leaders have children too. Would they be able to accept it if their children were treated in this manner?

From the newspapers were learnt that these six coordinators went on hunger strike for a stretch of 32 hours. In his Facebook status, lawyer Manzur Al Matin wrote, “The 6 coordinators on hunger strike for 32 hours in DC custody. I thought you all had never read Nazrul! How wrong I was!. Each of you are an embodiment of Nazrul! Nazrul carried out a 39-day hunger strike and alone shook the foundations of the British Raj! Yu all are innumerable Nazruls! Who can stop you!”

Manzur Al Matin and another lawyer filed a writ with the High Court against the unlawful detention of the six coordinators and also a ban in shooting at the demonstrators. When a judge fell ill after the first two days of the hearing, the hearing was not held on the third day. In the meantime the agitating civil society have a 24-hour ultimatum and the six coordinators were released the next day.

But we do not know what happened to them over those six days in the DB office. We saw a video of them withdrawing the programmes of the movement. But once they were released they issued a press statement saying that they had not voluntarily made that video statement on 28 July from the DB office about withdrawing the movement. The press statement said that the coordinators had been abducted, arrested, tortured and harassed since 19 July basically to thwart the movement and the leadership. Though the home minister and the DB chief had said it was for their safety, they had actually been taken into custody to isolate them from the movement.

The six coordinators also alleged that they were forced to sit at the dining table in the DB office and a video was made of them. Their families were assured that they would be released and were made to wait for 13 hours. False states were released to the press. Their teachers were not allowed to meet them. From 30 July the coordinators in the DB office began their hunger strike in protest of the arrests and torture of students. The government was finally forced to release them.

The six coordinators state that the movement of the Students against Discrimination will continue until the killings of the students and common citizen are brought to justice and the imprisoned innocent people are released.

It has once again been proven that fear, coercion and detention of the students cannot suppress any movement. That is what we witnessed all over the country yesterday, Friday. People from all walks of life surged to the streets to join the students in Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi and in numerous places around the country.

The students’ quota reform movement today is turning into a movement for reforms of the state.

* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor at Prothom Alo and a poet. He can be contacted at sohrabhassan55@gmail.com

* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir