March for unity reveals organisational power; yet doubt over ‘unity’

The goal of the March for Unity programme organised by Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee was to give a message on unity, and no political party including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) joined the event. No representatives of student organisations were there either.

However, the Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee think they have been able to show their organisational power and capacity through this programme.

The Students Against Discrimination has been calling themselves the representative organisation of all parties that participated in the movement against the fascist rule of Awami League, but questions have been raised from various quarters following the March for Unity rally held at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital on 31 December.

BNP’s joint secretary general Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie raised questions on why a rally had to be held in the name of March for Unity at a discussion marking the founding anniversary of Jatiyatabadi Chattra Dal. He said is such a rally, speeches in the name of unity not helpful to conspirators, looters and fascists?

Various leaders of BNP also vented anger on the language used and displayed on the placards of the rally. At a meeting of the party activists in Dhaka on 2 January, BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy hinted at Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee saying, “Those who opposed the liberation war in 1971 have rode on them. They try to say the country became independent on 5 August… The nation does not agree to hear the lessons of those who opposed the war of independence in 1971.”

No participation of major political parties or student organisations in the March for Unity also triggered discussion in the country’s political domain with many people assessing how much the event was successful from the point of view of unity that was the theme of this event.

Chattra Dal central president Rakibul Islam told Prothom Alo they did not participate in the programme of Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee consciously. There has been no significant progress in the trial of the collaborators of fascism and the killings that happened during the July mass-uprising revolution in the past five months. Now the question is why a programme like March for Unity is being taken instead of getting involved in those matters, he added.

Islami Chattra Shibir, Dhaka University unit president Abu Sadik said they did not join the programme as they had a party programme on 31 December and there is no other reason.

Regarding no participation from political parties or student organisations, leaders of Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee said uncertainty rose over the programme to some extent on the night of 30 December.

Everyone was invited to the ‘Proclamation of July revolution’ event. The venue and time were the same but the programme type was changed. There was no time for formal invitations to the new programme. But it has been possible to call for unity from the programme. Besides, they think they have given a message to all quarters from the 31 December rally that the power of mass uprising is still united.

As of 2 January, Students Against Discrimination formed convening committees in 21 districts, three cities, a university, two colleges and a political institute while Jatiya Nagorik Committee gave representative committees in 130 thana and upazilas along with a representative committee at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Top leaders of Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee announced all of a sudden in Facebook posts on the night of 28 December that they would declare the proclamation of the July revolution at the Central Shaheed Minar on 31 December.

The next day, leaders of Students Against Discrimination formally announced the event at a press conference where they said the ‘Mujibist Constitution’ of 1972 would be buried at the Shaheed Minar rally.

The announcement followed talks in the political domain of the country. Questions rose from various quarters on why the proclamation issue was brought forward all of a sudden and what its impact would be. Politics felt a heat along with debate for and against the proclamation.

Amid this circumstance, the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing said at an urgent press briefing in front of the state guesthouse at 9:00 pm on 30 December that an initiative has been taken by the interim government to formulate a proclamation of July mass uprising based on a national consensus. The proclamation will be prepared based on the opinions of all students, political parties and groups including Students Against Discrimination who led the mass uprising.

After the briefing, the Students Against Discrimination held a closed-door four to four-and-a-half-hour-long meeting at their office in Bangla Motor, followed by a press briefing at 1:45 am on Tuesday where they said they would hold the March for Unity programme at the Central Shaheed Minar.

Several leaders of Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee told Prothom Alo they had a plan to invite chief adviser, army chief and leaders of various political parties to their ‘proclamation’ unveiling event. They had thought if political parties joined the event student organisations would also come. So, they had no separate activity to bring the student organisations.

It has been learned after talking to leaders of Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee that the main goal of the proclamation unveiling event was to give a message on the unity of mass uprising through a massive rally. The entire plan shifted dramatically after learning the government’s stance.

Since there was widespread publicity of the programme, backtracking from the event might give a wrong message. Besides, students and people from different professions already left for Dhaka from various districts on the night of 30 December. As the government moved to announce the proclamation. The March for Unity programme was called.

A leader of Students Against Discrimination claimed about 100,000 people gathered at the rally and many others stayed in surrounding areas. On the other hand, a leader of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee said about 70,000 people congregated at the event.

Leaders of Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee think they have shown their organisational power to a large extent and that drew much talk.

Replying to a query on how many messages on unity were given from the March for Unity, Samantha Sharmin, spokesperson of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, told Prothom Alo, “Our programme has been successful. A unity has been shown among the young generation, and what we want to see in the coming days has been informed clearly through this programme.”