‘Abandoning July revolutionaries for electoral gain would be a grave mistake’

Students Against Discrimination (SAD) President Rifat Rashid today criticised National Citizen Party (NCP), saying leaders who emerged through the July uprising did not stand beside the revolutionaries in times of crisis.

Questioning NCP's role during the recent arrest of the platform's Habiganj unit member secretary Mahdi Hasan and "July warrior" Tahrima Jannat Surovi, Rifat said the party issued statements only after their release.

"Those NCP leaders who rose through the July uprising -- every single one of them -- remained silent when they [Mahdi and Surovi] were in danger," he added.

Speaking at a press conference held at Madhur Canteen on the Dhaka University campus, Rifat also warned that abandoning the July revolutionaries for electoral politics would be a grave mistake.

Read more

SAD leader detained in Habiganj over controversial remarks

"If you [NCP] 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," he said.

He further said that Awami League has never been a friend of Bangladesh.

"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 added.

The SAD president also announced three programmes and several demands, including the unconditional release of Mahdi Hasan and Surovi.

The demands also include issuing an ordinance by the president within the next 24 hours -- granting immunity for all activities carried out by students and the public who participated in the July uprising between July 1 and 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.

The platform also demanded immediate promotions and appointments to sensitive and important posts for armed forces officers who were deprived of promotion after February 25, 2009, due to what it described as "repression under fascism".

As part of its next set of programmes, the platform will prepare a list of officers-in-charge of police stations, district superintendents of police and higher commanding officers under whose jurisdictions students and members of the public were killed during the July uprising.

The platform will submit the list to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and file cases accordingly, Rifat said.

He further said they would hold discussions with the law and home affairs advisers to ensure an indemnity ordinance by the president.

Their third programme includes continuing meetings with the heads of the two largest electoral alliances to ensure that the revolutionary spirit of July and the security of July revolutionaries are clearly reflected in their election manifestos.