Student protest moves to ‘one-point’ demand with ‘non-cooperation’ call

Protesters demand government to step down after violent quota protests, while ruling Awami League plans to take to the streets, raising public concern

Protesters have dismissed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s invitation for dialogue aimed at quelling escalating violence and consolidated their demands into a unified call for the government’s resignation.

On Saturday, while a large student rally in Dhaka to announce their demand for a single-point agenda proceeded without incident, clashes erupted in various other parts of the country.

A trader was killed and at least 20 others were injured in these incidents.

There have been reports of vandalism and arson attacks on police vehicles and government buildings in multiple locations.

In Chattogram, the residences of Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, as well as the office of AL MP Md Mohiuddin Bachchu were attacked.

In an apparent retaliation, the homes of several BNP leaders, including Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, have also been targeted.

The BNP and its allies, along with numerous political, professional, and cultural groups have thrown their support behind the student-led movement that had been launched to demand reforms to quotas reserved for government jobs.

In response, the Awami League has planned a series of demonstrations on Sunday, including ward-level sit-ins and processions, heightening public concern amid the face-off between the two camps.

DOORS FOR DISCUSSION SHUT

Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Hasina offered to sit for talks with the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

“The doors of the Ganabhaban are open,” she said. “I want to sit with the quota protesters. I want to hear what they have to say. I do not want clashes.”

She made the call during a meeting with the Peshajibi Shomonnoy Parishad.

However, the proposal was rejected by coordinators of the movement.

In a post to his Facebook page at 2:15pm on Saturday, coordinator Nahid Islam wrote:

“One cannot ask a killer government for justice or sit for talks with them. The time to ask forgiveness has passed.”

CALL FOR GOVERNMENT TO QUIT

On Friday, a rally was called by the Anti-discrimination Student Movement at the Central Shaheed Minar.

From Saturday morning, slogans demanding the government's resignation began rising in parts of the city.

The same slogans were prominent in the processions heading towards the Shaheed Minar.

Alongside the students at the rally were their guardians, teachers, artists, individuals from various professions, political leaders, and activists.

The Shaheed Minar premises were packed, with the crowd spilling over onto the adjacent streets.

Amidst this massive turnout, Nahid, the coordinator of the movement, declared that their nine-point demand has now evolved into a single demand: the resignation of the government.

He said they will launch a non-cooperation movement on Sunday and hold protests and sit-ins nationwide.

“We urge the public to join a full-scale non-cooperation movement. Do not support this ‘murderous’ government.

“If the internet is shut down or curfews and emergencies are declared, we will surround Ganabhaban and oust [the prime minister] if necessary,” said Nahid.

He added that not only Hasina but the entire cabinet must resign.

“We need to dismantle this fascist regime and establish a Bangladesh where fascism and autocracy will never return.”

He said the corruption, looting, and mass killings by Hasina’s government would be addressed.

“We will ensure justice for all past murders, disappearances, and oppression. All political prisoners must be freed, and we will bring our brothers back from prison if necessary.”

Nahid urged the public to join the movement spontaneously and organise at the local level.

“We will soon announce a united front with student and citizen organisations and professional groups for a student-citizen uprising. We will present a blueprint for the future of Bangladesh through discussions.”

OUTLINE OF THE NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT

During the rally, the platforms’s coordinator, Asif Mahmud, outlined the indefinite non-cooperation movement's plan. The key points include:

· No payment of taxes or levies.

· No payment of electricity, gas, or water bills.

· All government and private offices, institutions, and factories will remain closed. Employees should not attend offices. Collect salaries at the end of the month.

· Educational institutions will be closed.

· Overseas workers will not send remittances through banking channels.

· All types of government meetings, seminars, and events will be boycotted.

· Port workers will not perform their duties or handle cargo.

· Factories will remain closed, and garment workers will not go to work.

· Public transport will be halted, and workers will not attend their jobs.

· Banks will remain open on Sundays for essential personal transactions only.

· Police will not engage in protocol, riot, or protest duties, except routine police work.

· Offshore transactions will be halted to prevent any funds from leaving the country.

· Except for Border Guard Bangladesh, and the Navy, other forces will not perform duties outside military camps. The BGB and Navy will remain stationed in barracks and coastal areas.

· Ministerial staff will not go to the Secretariat, and deputy commissioners or Upazila officials will not attend their respective offices.

· Luxury goods shops, showrooms, boutiques, hotels, motels, and restaurants will be closed.

However, essential services such as hospitals, pharmacies, medical equipment transport, ambulance services, fire services, media, essential goods transport, emergency internet services, and disaster relief operations will continue.

Essential goods stores can remain open from 11am to 1pm.

GUARDIANS STAND WITH STUDENTS

Protests erupted in various areas of Dhaka, including Science Laboratory, Mirpur, Shantinagar, Aftabnagar, Pragati Sarani, Badda, Rampura, and Shonir Akhra.

Demonstrators, including guardians, held national flags and placards, calling for the end of police violence.

In several areas, guardians joined the students in their protests.

Despite a heavy police presence throughout the city, officers did not interfere with the demonstrations.

Protesters chanted slogans like “Justice! Justice! We Want Justice!”

In Aftabnagar, students and their guardians occupied the road in front of East West University, causing a traffic blockade from Rampura Bridge to Aftabnagar.

By 2pm, students from multiple institutions gathered from Rampura Bridge to Merul Badda.

Protests also took place at Pragati Sarani, Khilgaon Flyover, and Shantinagar.

In line with pre-announced plans, several musicians gathered at Rabindra Sarobar in Dhanmondi to express solidarity with the quota reform movement.

Some cultural activists later joined the central Shaheed Minar gathering, and members of the theatre group Prachyanat performed a symbolic march with white cloth in front of the National Academy of Fine Arts before joining the main protest.

GOVERNMENT'S STANCE ON THE ONE-POINT DEMAND

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said he and other ministers would resign if the prime minister deems it necessary given the current climate.

Following a meeting with law enforcement officials at the Secretariat on Saturday, the minister announced a new timing easing the curfew in Dhaka and three other adjacent districts.

The relaxation has been extended by two additional hours, now from 6am to 9pm.

This schedule will continue until further notice.

In response to a journalist’s question about the possibility of resignations by ministers as demanded by the student protesters, he said: “If the situation requires it and if [PM] Sheikh Hasina believes it is necessary, we will do what’s required for the country.”

Regarding the declaration of a one-point demand for the government's resignation at the Anti-discrimination Student Movement rally on Saturday, he said: “This is no longer part of the quota reform movement. It has shifted from a student issue to a political one.”

“Those who are misleading and misguiding the students are responsible for this shift.”

Asked the planned 'non-cooperation' programme by the student platform on Sunday, the minister said the authorities do not intend to thwart the movement.

“We do not wish to suppress the people’s involvement in the movement.”

In response to concerns about potential attacks during the protests, Asaduzzaman said: “If someone attacks you, will you just sit back? Both law enforcers and citizens have the right to self-defence.”

AL TO MOBILISE WORKERS

On Saturday, Awami League leaders and activists marched and gathered across numerous roads in Dhaka.

At Russell Square in Dhanmondi, leaders and activists from the affiliate volunteer organisation Swechchhasebak League sat with chairs, while a procession took place at Science Laboratory intersection.

In Mohammadpur, leaders and activists conducted motorcycle rallies without any reports of disturbances.

On Sunday, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader announced gatherings in every ward of Dhaka and in all metropolitan areas and districts.

The previously scheduled mourning procession will now take place on Monday, with a march from the Institution of Engineers to the Bangabandhu Bhaban in Dhanmondi.

The party’s senior leaders confirmed that activities will extend beyond Dhaka to other districts.

Awami League Presidium Member Abdur Rahman criticised the students' "one-point" demand as politically motivated, asserting that the party will address it politically while maintaining peace.

A top Awami League leader told bdnews24.com, "We will be present at every major intersection in Dhaka, and even in local neighbourhoods. We will handle this politically."

Another Presidium Member, Kamrul Islam, said: "As a political party, we will be active with our political programmes starting from Sunday."

STAY VIGILANT AGAINST RUMOURS: ARMY CHIEF TO OFFICERS

Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman directed military officers to safeguard public safety and secure key state installations under all circumstances amid the ongoing unrest.

He urged officials to remain vigilant against misinformation and to perform their duties with 'truthfulness and integrity.'

The directive was issued during an Officers Address at Army Headquarters on Saturday, as part of routine operations, the Inter-Services Public Relations or ISPR said in a statement.

During the address, the army chief reassured that the Bangladesh Army remains a trusted institution dedicated to supporting public and state needs.

He advised officials to remain vigilant against social media rumours and to perform their duties with integrity and fairness.

ONGOING VIOLENCE AND CASUALTIES

A trader killed in a clash between police and quota reform protesters in the Sreepur Upazila of Gazipur.

The incident occurred in the Mawna Chowrasta area of the Upazila on Saturday noon, according to Akbar Ali Khan, chief of Sreepur Police Station.

The deceased has been identified as Zakir Hossain, a resident of Satkhira. He was reportedly engaged in the quilt business.

Protesters had gathered at Mawna Chowrasta from 11 am.Tensions flared when AL supporters occupied the area under the Mawna Chowrasta flyover.

The conflict led to protesters setting fire to three police boxes and two police vehicles.

In Cumilla, a rally was reportedly attacked by AL and its affiliates, injuring over fifty students. Seven students are said to have been shot and are receiving treatment at various hospitals.

The incident occurred around 1pm on Saturday near the Rescorse Police Lines area in Cumilla city.

The identities of the injured were not immediately known.

In Chandina, Cumilla, protesters vandalised and set fire to an ASO’s government vehicle on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.

Clashes also erupted in Sylhet, where students began protesting at Chouhatta, leading to police using stunt grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

The Chouhatta, Dargagate, Mirboxtula, and Zindabazar areas in the city looked like a war zone during the clashes, with protesters burning fires on the streets.

In Rajshahi, three police boxes were vandalised and set ablaze.

Constable Saiful Islam was injured in the violence.

The protesters beat up Constable Saiful at Talaimari intersection when he was taking pictures of the vandalised police boxes.

Protester Rakib Hasan Ornob, who had recently announced a withdrawal from the movement, was attacked and injured by fellow protesters.

Both Ornob and another injured person are hospitalised at Rajshahi Medical College.

Similar clashes have been reported in Naogaon, Jamalpur, and other districts.

In Tangail, the Dhaka-Northern Region Highway was blocked, and Jahangirnagar University protesters closed the Dhaka-Aricha Highway.

CLASHES ERUPT IN CHATTOGRAM

The residences of Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury were attacked amid the ongoing quota reform protests.

The office of Md Mohiuddin Bachchu, MP for Chattogram-10, located in the Lalkhan Bazar area, was also targeted on Saturday evening.

The attack on Minister Nowfel's residence occurred around 6:30pm, as a procession reached the mayor’s lane at Sholoshahar Gate No. 2.

Rahul Das, the minister’s assistant, said protesters from the Anti-discrimination Student Movement stormed Nowfel’s home in Chashma Hill.

They broke the gate, vandalised a sedan and a Toyota Prado car, and set the Prado on fire, he said.

The attackers also damaged the ground-floor windows and furniture, although no family members were present at the time.

The residence is Nowfel’s ancestral home, formerly belonging to his late father, the renowned Awami League leader and three-time city mayor, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury.

Nowfel’s mother, Hasina Mohiuddin, is the chairperson of the Chattogram Metropolitan Women’s Awami League.

Protesters also attacked Mayor Rezaul’s residence in Bahaddarhat while he was at home.

A City Corporation official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attackers initially tried to break through the outer gate of the mayor's house but failed to breach the inner gate.

Police stationed at the residence intervened to prevent further damage.

Between 8:30pm and 9pm on Saturday, miscreants attacked the residence of BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury in the Mehedibagh area of the city.

Several vehicles parked in the area were vandalised and set on fire.

BNP leader Idris Ali who is in charge of the party office said Amir Khosru's house was attacked and set ablaze.

Earlier, around 8:30pm, assailants attacked and set fire to the residence of Shahadat Hossain, former president of Chattogram Metropolitan BNP, located on Badsha Mia Road.

According to Idris, 10-12 private cars parked at Shahadat's residence were also torched.

In another incident, the residence of Ershad Ullah, convenor of Chattogram Metropolitan BNP, in the Panchlaish Residential Area, was attacked.

Vehicles at the site were set on fire and vandalised.