[🇧🇩] Anti-Discrimination Student Movement

[Saif]

Students, Nagorik committee: We’ll form a political party within 2 months

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and Jatiya Nagorik Committee are planning to form a new political party within a month or two, said Nasiruddin Patwary, convener of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee.

www.thedailystar.net

Students, Nagorik committee: We’ll form a political party within 2 months
Committee convener says ‘no polls before trials of all AL miscreants’

From the left: Nasir Uddin Patwary, Abdul Hannan Masud, Mahir Shahriar Reza. Photos: Collected

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and Jatiya Nagorik Committee are planning to form a new political party within a month or two, said Nasiruddin Patwary, convener of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee.

"We are currently a political initiative, born out of the 2024 mass uprising, comprising forces that defeated Awami fascism and aim to rebuild Bangladesh," he told reporters after paying tributes at the National Mausoleum in Savar marking Victory Day yesterday.

Their vision is to present Bangladesh as a dreamland in South Asia and on the global stage.

"With this goal in mind, the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement will introduce a promising political party within the next month or two."

About elections taking place by the first half of 2026, Nasiruddin told reporters that the new party would never support holding the next general polls until "all the Awami League miscreants" are tried for their role in the civilian killing spree during the July-August uprising.

The country has a history of holding elections without trying the killers of peaceful anti-government protesters whenever a forcible regime change occurs, he said, while urging all to work towards ensuring justice against the AL.

"…Even after 1971, we have not yet been able to hold trials for those who stood against the people of Bangladesh in 1971. We have not yet seen justice for those killed in 1990. Taking lessons from 90 and 71, there will be no elections before the trial of 2024," he said.

He further said if there is an election before the trial of 2024, the 2,000 martyrs and millions injured will not get any justice.

"To this end, we call on all parties, factions, and groups to be active in the judicial process and fulfil the dream of Bangladeshis," he said.

Through the July-August uprising, the country also gained independence from Indian hegemony, Nasiruddin said, while cautioning the young generation to stay active against conspiracies being hatched by New Delhi and the AL.​

 

[Saif]

New political party with state patronage to ruin govt credibility: BNP

Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Friday that the interim government’s credibility would be ruined if a new political party was formed under state patronage.

www.newagebd.net

New political party with state patronage to ruin govt credibility: BNP
Staff Correspondent 21 December, 2024, 00:45

Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Friday that the interim government’s credibility would be ruined if a new political party was formed under state patronage.

Rizvi came up with the remark at a programme organised by ‘Amra BNP Paribar’, a pro-BNP organisation which provides supports to the people in distress, at Katashur at Mohammadpur in the capital Dhaka.

‘We have come across reports at newspapers that a new political party named Jatiya Nagorik Committee is going to be formed,’ he said.

‘We are stepping on the path of democracy, so, it is good news if the students who led the anti-discrimination movement are coming with the new political party, but it shouldn’t be a king’s party.’

Noting that everyone has rights to form a political party, he said that if the party was formed under state sponsorship, the government’s credibility would be ruined.

Participants in the democratic movement must respect the values of democracy, he added.

Rizvi also said that history would not forgive them (the interim government) if they made any mistakes. If the interim government fails, the country’s independence and sovereignty may be endangered, he said.

He said that the roadmap given by the interim government was a protracted one, and the people did not expect it.

Mentioning that the BNP had never backed down on the movement and struggles in the past, Rizvi also said that the BNP had a glorious contribution in 1971, November 7, 1975, and mass uprisings in 1990 and 2024.

BNP chairperson’s advisory council member Zainul Abedin Farroque on Friday urged the chief adviser to announce a clear date and a roadmap for the national election, without making any delays in the process using the execution of reforms as a pretext.

‘We will listen to what the chief adviser says. Please, specify the roadmap and election date,’ he said while addressing a discussion arranged by the Bangladesh Chalak Dal at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital Dhaka.

He also said that the people of the country did not want the interim government to delay the transfer of power to the elected representatives or the election in the name of reforms.

‘No matter who says what, the people’s representatives will decide what will be fully reformed and what will not,’ he said.

Farroque said that if the government announced the election date, it would bring relief to the people and restore their confidence that democracy and the rule of law would be re-established through a fair election.

He called upon the government to take necessary steps to prevent the manipulation of the market by the Awami League’s ‘ghosts’ during Ramadan, the fasting month for the Muslims.

The BNP leader alleged that the Awami League was plotting to destabilise the country by carrying out attacks on members of the Hindu community.

He said that deposed autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina must face trial in Bangladesh and be held accountable for her misdeeds, including killings and repression.​

 

[Saif]

Delhi lodges protest with Dhaka over Mahfuj Alam’s comments

India has lodged a strong protest with Bangladesh over certain controversial comments by key aide of Bangladesh's interim government Mahfuj Alam, the Press Trust of India, or PTI, reports. In a now-deleted Facebook post, Alam said on December 4 that India should recognise the uprising that forced

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Delhi lodges protest with Dhaka over Mahfuj Alam’s comments
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
Dec 20, 2024 19:21
Updated :
Dec 20, 2024 19:33

India has lodged a strong protest with Bangladesh over certain controversial comments by key aide of Bangladesh's interim government Mahfuj Alam, the Press Trust of India, or PTI, reports.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Alam said on December 4 that India should recognise the uprising that forced the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign, according to the report.

"We have registered our strong protest on this issue with the Bangladesh side. We understand that the post being referred to has reportedly been taken down," India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was quoted as saying at a media briefing on Friday.

"We would like to remind all concerned to be mindful of their public comments," the PTI quoted him as saying.

"While India has repeatedly signalled interest in fostering relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh, such comments underline the need for responsibility in public articulation," Jaiswal was also quoted to have said.​

 

[Saif]

Some parties were indecisive till 30 July about joining movement: Sarjis Alam

The July Shaheed Smrity Foundation hosted the programme in Khulna, to hand over Tk 500,000 to each of 58 martyrs in the Khulna division.

en.prothomalo.com

Some parties were indecisive till 30 July about joining movement: Sarjis Alam
Staff Correspondent
Khulna
Published: 20 Dec 2024, 21: 03

Families of the movement victims in Khulna receive financial support from the July Smriti Foundation.Prothom Alo

Sarjis Alam, the chief organiser of the Jatiya Nagarik Committee and also general secretary of the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation, has lambasted some political parties, without naming any, for their ‘hesitation’ until 30 July about joining the students' movement against the Sheikh Hasina regime.

“Until 20, 25, and even 30 July, many political parties said that they could not take any decision whether they should support the ouster of fascist Hasina, or whether they should join the movement,” he said at a programme in Khulna on Friday.

The July Shaheed Smrity Foundation hosted the programme at Shilpakala Academy auditorium in Khulna, to hand over Tk 500,000 to each of 58 martyrs in the Khulna division.

While addressing the programme, Sarjis Alam noted that some political parties, who were indecisive during the movement, are now talking big.

“If they now boastfully claim that they were on the frontline during the uprising and that we (the anti-discrimination student movement) were just participants, I just request them to recall their position throughout the month of July,” he said.

Addressing the family members of the movement victims, Sarjis vowed to remain unbiased and non-alienated to any group in the coming days.

“We will not spare anyone. At the same time, we will monitor if the propaganda cells affiliated with different groups attempt to misinterpret different issues and practice evil politics,” he added.​

 

[Saif]

Anti-Discrimination Student Movement: Leaders mull new party early next year

Some leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, who were at the forefront of the July-August student-people uprising that ousted the Awami League regime, are likely to launch a new...

www.newagebd.net

Anti-Discrimination Student Movement: Leaders mull new party early next year
Moinul Haque 22 December, 2024, 00:31

Some leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, who were at the forefront of the July-August student-people uprising that ousted the Awami League regime, are likely to launch a new party by the first quarter of the next year.

They are now busy preparing the party manifesto and programmes which they said would be centrist in nature.

The organisers said that the new political party would be youth-oriented, with its primary focus on establishing social democracy as a means to eliminate all forms of discrimination.

The manifesto would prioritise the values of the people and the heritage of the land, with a strong commitment to preventing any Islamophobic activities in the country, they said.

‘The initiative to form a political party aims to realise the vision of a Bangladesh dreamed of by countless individuals who took part in the mass uprising and those who made supreme sacrifices in the movement,’ Jatiya Nagorik Committee convener Nasiruddin Patwary told New Age on Friday.

Nasiruddin, a key leader of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, a social platform of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said that the people wanted to see a political party within a short time that would really act to protect the interest of Bangladesh and its people against the existing old political settlement in the country.

‘The political party will be formed by students with support from the Jatiya Nagorik Committee. We aim to complete our preparations within two months, and the announcement will be made at a time when the people are ready and eager for it,’ he said.

The party’s declaration would embody a synthesis of the principles of the Proclamation of Independence—equality, human dignity and social justice—and the aspirations of the 2024 uprising, he added.

Nasiruddin emphasised the need for a political party to fulfil the aspirations of the 2024 mass uprising, saying that students and youth did not benefit from previous uprisings, including that of 1990, with their achievements instead being taken over by the two dominant political parties.

Denying the allegation of forming a party under the patronage of the interim government and the state, Jatiya Nagorik Committee spokesperson Samanta Sharmin said that the accusation was merely an attempt to discredit the initiative of the students.

She said that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was probably thinking of the initiative of students as a threat to them.

The new political party would be centrist—neither religious nor socialist—and would welcome people of all ideologies, she said.

‘We are working on the party literature and it will be finalised shortly,’ Samanta added.

‘We are young, and while we may have some flaws in the process of party formation, people must recognise that the youths and students, who have always sacrificed their lives in democratic movements throughout history but have never been properly acknowledged, are now coming together to form a party,’ she said.

Recently, the BNP alleged that efforts were underway to form a ‘king’s party’ under state patronage.

In several districts across the country, leaders and activists of the BNP and its affiliated bodies allegedly attacked members of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and foiled some of their programmes.

On the issue, Nasiruddin said that they were not against the BNP, rather many of the young leadership and activists of the party remained aligned with a new political settlement.

He said that the BNP leaders, who wanted to maintain the old political settlement while disregarding the aspirations of the martyred in the July-August uprising, saw the students’ initiative to form a new political party as a threat to them.

Asked whether the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, who joined the government, would join the political party, Nasiruddin said that they would have no opportunity to do so while remaining in the government.

Jatiya Nagorik Committee co-convener Sarwar Tusher said that the reflection of the mass uprising and the power of youth would be evident in the name of the new political party though the name was yet to be finalised.

He said that elections without ensuring qualitative change of institutions through reforms would bring no positive result for the people.

‘People want reforms, while the BNP only seeks elections,’ he mentioned.

Tusher also said that not only the BNP, all the political parties, who ruled the people as dictators, were now united against the new political settlement and the aspiration of the people.

Following the mass uprising, the Jatiya Nagorik Committee was formed on September 8 and sought to unite diverse groups in Bangladesh to establish a new political settlement for a democratic society.

It has so far formed some 100 thana and upazila committees across the country.

According to sources, after forming 400 thana and upazila committees, the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement would announce the new political party.​