What other coordinators say about the meeting with ministers and Naheed’s ‘arrest’
Disagreements emerge among anti-quota movement coordinators – File photo
A meeting of three government ministers with three representatives of the anti-discrimination student movement was held at midnight on Friday. However, it is known about the disagreement between the leadership regarding that meeting.
Two coordinators Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah and co-coordinator Tanveer Ahmed raised eight-point demands as a precondition for the start of talks on quota after meeting Law Minister Anisul Haque, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury and State Minister for Information Mohammad Ali Arafat at Rashtriya Guest House Padma.
Among them, Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah have been seen raising their demands from the front line since the beginning of the movement.
But, another coordinator of the movement, Arif Sohail, a student of Jahangirnagar University, complained that all the decisions being promoted in the name of anti-discrimination student movement, none of them are the decisions or demands or initiatives of the anti-discrimination student movement.
Mr. Sohail said, “They are not even a portion of the anti-discrimination student movement. They are not with the anti-discrimination student movement. If they have taken this decision and campaigned in the name of anti-discrimination student movement, they are lying.”
“If someone is doing it, he or she is doing it on personal initiative,” he told BBC Bengal.
Another coordinator, Abdul Quader, claimed in a small message, “An attempt is being made to forcefully spread wrong news in the media with the help of several coordinators and co-coordinators.”
Instead of the proposed eight-point demand, he is talking about nine points with different demands.
‘No anti-agitation claims have been made’
On the other hand, coordinator Hasnat Abdullah, who participated in the meeting, told BBC Bangla that approximately 12-13 people spoke collectively and wrote eight-point demands on Friday night.
Mr. Abdullah said, “No demand has been made against the quota reform movement here. And we have discussed these before.”
“If someone says they haven’t spoken to him…that’s isolated. In fact, he couldn’t be contacted,” he said.
Quota reform activists relied on social media for programming and organizational needs. Their communication has also stopped due to the shutdown of internet services.
Nahid Islam, one of the coordinators of the movement, was not present in the meeting with two government ministers and a state minister.
A couple of hours after the meeting, Mr. Islam was detained by the law and order forces on behalf of the family.
Hasnat Abdullah says, “Nahid Islam was among the coordinators during the preparation of the eight-point demand. Nahid Islam was on the phone with them till 11:30 pm yesterday (Friday). “
Why Nahid did not go to the meeting? In such a question Mr. Abdullah said, “We all had security risks, but his was greater. Therefore, considering the overall situation, he could not be included.”
Sarjis Alam, another coordinator who attended the meeting, told BBC Bangla, “Our coordinating panel is very big. There may be disagreement but disagreement does not mean division.”
“It took us five to six hours to fix the eight points. Nahid along with a few others were involved in phone calls with us throughout the process,” he told BBC Bangla.
At this time, they are not able to contact Nahid and anyone from his family said that they are continuing to search for him.
“If Nahid is arrested, we must also be arrested,” added Mr. Alam
Despite the eight-point announcement, nine points are still under discussion
No specific announcement or decision came out of the meeting held at Rashtriya Guest House Padma.
The students told the media that they would agree to discuss only one point of quota reform if their eight-point demands were met.
Their demands include prosecution of those responsible for the killings in the past few days, prosecution of the Chhatra League and government officials for incitement and resignation of the vice-chancellors and proctors who remained inactive during the attack on the students.
Besides, the demands raised by them have also asked for the withdrawal of all the cases filed against the quota movement and the assurance of not harassing those involved in the future.
After the meeting, Law Minister Anisul Haque expressed hope for a logical solution in a conversation with the media.
On the other hand, one of the coordinators, Nahid Islam, told BBC Bangla that although a nine-point demand was discussed on Friday, a consensus could not be reached.
However, the newspapers published from Dhaka on Saturday published the nine-point demand of the anti-discrimination student movement. They demanded the prime minister’s public apology and the resignation of the home minister and the road transport minister from the cabinet and the party for the responsibility of these nine student killings.
They are also demanding the removal of the responsible police officers from the places where students were killed. Besides, this part of the anti-discrimination student movement has demanded the resignation of vice-chancellors and proctors of Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University and Rajshahi University, compensation to the families of the dead and injured, banning of Chhatra League politics in educational institutions, opening of educational institutions and halls and non-harassment.
BBC BANGLA
