Student Movement 2024

Though the movement began at the start of July, my active participation started on July 17th. The current batch of my college called for a protest demanding quota reform and organized a blockade at Farmgate. I was the founding admin of the page where operators of my college’s wing issued general statements. As a senior, I went to Farmgate to join them. However, upon arriving, I saw a large platoon of Bangladesh Awami League student wing members, wearing helmets and carrying weapons, attacking the students and passersby. I was terrified but managed to help the protesting students to the roof of my office, which is located in the middle of Farmgate, with the assistance of my colleagues. The student league members began threatening us and even broke the leg of one of our security guards. After providing basic medical treatment to the injured students, we collected T-shirts from nearby coaching centers located in the same building, changed their uniforms, and helped them leave one by one, as the student league members were holding a meeting just beside our office building.

The events of that day enraged me, especially when I saw the unarmed college students being violently attacked while merely chanting slogans in front of the Farmgate police box. On the same day, some of my university friends and seniors were injured by local thugs and men associated with the local councilor. The following day, private university students, including ULAB, called for protests. I attended with my friends from ULAB, along with friends from DU, CUET, UAP, and Bangladesh University, whom I had motivated to join. The day went well until the afternoon. Later, I received a call from a friend saying that a group of student volunteers, including female students, who had come to support the protests at Asadgate and College Gate, had been trapped. My friends and I rushed there and saw that student league members were beating pedestrians simply for recording videos of the situation.

A short while later, an ambulance arrived, carrying the body of Farhan Faiyaz, a martyr and student of DRMC. His mother was running after the ambulance, crying inconsolably. That moment paralyzed me; it felt as if time had stopped. The principal of DRMC fled in his car through the back gate. Somehow, we managed to leave the area safely.

On Friday, my friend Zim, a CUET student who had been with me during the ULAB protest, was arrested by police in Dhanmondi, as we later saw on Jamuna TV. It was a shocking experience for us. We informed his father, who was an SI at Shere-Bangla Nagar Police Station. After hours of tracing, we found Zim at Dhanmondi Model Thana. It took about 8 exhausting hours to get him released. He was forced to give a false statement, claiming he was a member of Chhatra Shibir.

The next day, a curfew was announced, and we were stuck at home. The night was terrifying as members of the student league patrolled the streets on motorbikes, carrying weapons. One of my friends, who was in the area for tutoring, was chased by both police and student league members, and he took shelter at my house. We were anxiously calling friends to check on their safety. Since the internet was down, we tried getting updates via the radio, but it was only playing music. Eventually, we managed to connect a TV using a cable from the upstairs flat.

On the night of the 29th, eight of my school friends were arrested from their homes in our area. Four were released after paying bribes, and four were sent to the detective branch. Eventually, three more were released, but one was transferred first to the Counter Terrorism Unit and then to Central Jail. These experiences drained my emotions and overwhelmed me. The deaths of Abu Sayeed, Mir Mugdho, Farhan Faiyaz, and countless others only strengthened my resolve.

On July 31st, I was arrested by police near a bus stand for shouting slogans against the fascists. On the same day, one of my closest seniors from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology was injured by rubber bullet, and a tear gas shell permanently damaged the vision in his left eye. Fortunately, I was released the same day due to my grandfather’s influence, as he was a local leader. My parents kept me under house arrest for two days for my safety. From home I made Digital Graphics Arts against the protest.

On October 3rd, a large gathering took place at Shaheed Minar. I convinced a family friend to reassure my parents that I wouldn’t join the protest again, and they allowed me to go out for tea. However, I ended up joining the protest with my friend and the senior who had lost his vision. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. The slogans were electrifying, and everyone there felt united, from corporate workers to rickshaw pullers. I met my school, college, and university friends and seniors at the DU premises, and we stayed until 9 PM. The only demand was clear: for the government to step down!

On August 5th, the long march was announced. I joined the march despite having a fever. Around noon, we noticed that the army was no longer blocking us. A friend whose father is a military officer called me at 1:30 PM, saying that the fascist prime minister was about to flee. We didn’t believe her at first due to the many rumors circulating. However, after hours of waiting, a scrolling news ticker on Jamuna TV confirmed that the prime minister had stepped down and fled. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The relief and joy were overwhelming, and people of all ages in my neighborhood joined in celebration. We marched towards Ganobhaban and the parliament, chanting slogans of victory. Despite some looting and chaos, we tried to maintain order with our volunteer ID cards.

From that day forward, I joined the local volunteer team, working at the police station that had been vandalized, and served as traffic control and a cleaner in our local area for a week and participated in street arts. These are my memories and experiences from those unforgettable days.