Dhaka, Jan 7 (.) The head of Bangladesh’s youth-based social group – Students Against Discrimination – which spearheaded the 2024 July Uprising – has accused its political outfit, the National Citizen Party, of abandoning the leaders of the mass uprising, and warned that prioritising electoral politics over the revolution’s leaders would prove to be a grave miscalculation.
Rifat Rashid, president of SAD, levelled scathing criticism at the NCP during a press conference at Dhaka University, questioned its role during the recent arrests of uprising figures Mahdi Hasan, a Habiganj unit organiser, and Tahrima Jannat Surovi, whom the SAD called a “July warrior”.
“Those NCP leaders who rose through the July uprising — every single one of them — remained silent when they were in danger,” said Rashid, adding that the party issued statements only after the two activists had been released.
“They did not stand beside the revolutionaries in their moment of crisis.”
Warning SAD against seeking votes at the cost of sidelining those who led street protests back in 2024, he claimed, “If you think that by entering the electoral race, playing the ‘game of votes’ and courting the so-called Awami League vote bank you can abandon the July revolutionaries, you are making a grave mistake.”
Also levying attacks against the Awami League, he said that the currently banned political party had never been a friend of Bangladesh, calling the group a latent threat instead of a political partner.
“The Awami League is like a black cobra that has crawled into a hole. The moment it gets an opportunity, it will strike with such force that not only will you die from its venom, but the fighters of the July uprising will not be spared either,” he remarked.
Laying down a series of demands and three programmes aimed at safeguarding those involved in the coup, the SAD called for the unconditional release of its two detained activists, Mahdi Hasan and Surovi, demanding that the interim govt president issue an ordinance within 24 hours granting all participants of the July Uprising immunity for their actions between July 1 – August 8, 2024.
The platform further demanded documentation of the significant contributions made during the uprising by members of the army, navy and air force, as well as officials and employees of military, paramilitary and civilian administrations.
They also called for the immediate promotions and appointments to sensitive posts for armed forces officers who, as per the activist group, were denied advancement after February 25, 2009 due to what it alleged was political repression.
As part of its next steps, the SAD said it would compile a list of police station officers-in-charge, district superintendents and senior commanders under whose jurisdiction students and civilians were killed during the July uprising. The list will be submitted to the country’s International Crimes Tribunal, where cases will be filed accordingly.
Rashid said the platform would also engage with Law and Home Affairs advisors over the proposed indemnity ordinance, and hold talks with leaders of the two largest electoral alliances to ensure that the “spirit of July” and the security of its participants are clearly reflected in their election manifestos.
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