Protesters unwilling to talk with government

“One cannot ask a killer government for justice or sit for talks with them. The time to ask forgiveness has passed,” coordinator Nahid wrote on Facebook

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The coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement have rejected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s call for discussions amid the unrest surrounding the quota reform 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. When there was still time, the government conducted block raids to arrest and torture students. We will not come to any agreement while Akhtar Hossain, Arif Sohel, and others are detained by the government in jail.”

Asked to confirm the post, Nahid said: “I made the announcement in a Facebook status. Check it please.”

On Saturday morning, Prime Minister Hasina said she was willing to sit with the protest coordinators for talks.

“The doors of the Gonobhaban 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.”

In response, Nahid wrote on Facebook:

“On Jul 19, we rejected the curfew and announced that our shutdown programme would continue. No media outlets were allowed to carry that statement. That night I was detained and cruelly abused for this statement and I was coerced into calling off the protest and sitting for talks with the government.”

“The students were protesting peacefully. The government repressed it and pushed the situation towards clashes and violence. They imposed a curfew, turned off the internet, and killed hundreds of people. If this happens again, it will not be good for anyone.”

Noting that there was a plan to take the protest coordinators from the Detective Branch office to the Prime Minister’s Office, Nahid said:

“The plan did not succeed because of our street protests and hunger strike.”

“We want to continue our protest peacefully. We don’t want any violence, revenge or killing. Security forces need to cooperate for this. If Awami terrorists are seen on the streets, the law enforcers must take responsibility. But, if blood is shed, the resistance will build. We want justice and security of life.

“A mass movement has been created. No kind of repression, propaganda and conspiracy can stop the movement.”

Another coordinator, Asif Mahmud, also posted on Facebook.

“We are not willing to sit in any kind of dialogue with a killer government. And there is no question of talks with the political party Awami League.”

“We have no plans to negotiate with them. Our demands are clear. If they have any statements, they can make them to the media in front of our countrymen. The decisions of the student and the public are our decisions as well. There is no dialogue with bullets and terror.”

In a separate post, he wrote: “When we were trapped at the DB office, they told us to suspend the movement and meet the prime minister. They even had plans to forcibly take us to the Gonobhaban. To protest this and demand our freedom, we went on a hunger strike.”

“If the price of refusing to change my opinion is my death, I am ready to pay it. I am calling for the participation of every citizen of Bangladesh in the uprising of students and citizens.”