The veil has finally been lifted on the nationwide acts of terrorism masquerading as student protests. Nahid Islam, one of the 157 conveners of the “Anti-Discrimination Student Movement,” has announced an “all-out non-cooperation” movement starting August 4, 2024, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet.
This revelation underscores a sinister agenda aimed at destabilizing the nation under the guise of student activism.
On August 3, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon the agitating students to meet her at Gono Bhaban, the PM’s official residence, to end the violence surrounding the quota reform protests.
She stated, “The doors of Gono Bhaban are open. I want to sit with the agitating students and listen to them. I want no conflict.” She also asked the authorities to release the detained general students.
However, the coordinators of the “Anti-Discrimination Student Movement” rejected the Prime Minister’s call for a peaceful resolution through dialogue.
Coordinator Nahid Islam stated that students and citizens would not accept any state of emergency or curfew. He demanded an end to orders to shoot and attack, insisting that the directives of the non-cooperation movement must be followed.
He declared that there was no longer an opportunity for dialogue with what he called a “killer government” and that the time for forgiveness had passed. He accused the government of conducting block raids, arresting students, and torturing them, and stated that they would not compromise while political prisoners like Akhtar Hossain and Arif Sohel remain in jail.
Another coordinator, Abu Baker Majumdar, told the leading vernacular daily Prothom Alo, “There is no opportunity for discussion now. The decision will come from the streets”.
Coordinator Asif Mahmud echoed these sentiments in a social media post, stating that the coordinators were unwilling to sit for any dialogue with a “killer government” or engage in discussions with the Awami League.
He also issued a 15-point directive for their “non-cooperation movement,” including:
- No one should pay any taxes.
2. Refrain from paying any utility bills.
3. All government and private institutions, offices, courts, mills, and factories will remain closed. Employees should collect their salaries at the end of the month.
4. Educational institutions will remain closed.
5. Expatriates should not send any remittances through banking channels.
6. Boycott all government meetings, seminars, and events.
7. Port workers should not unload any goods.
8. Mills and factories will remain closed; RMG workers should not go to work.
9. Public transport will be suspended; workers should not go to work.
10. Banks will open only on Sundays for urgent transactions.
11. Police will perform only routine duties at their stations, avoiding protocol, riot, or protest duties.
12. No money should be smuggled out of the country, and no offshore transactions should take place.
13. Except for the BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh) and Navy, other forces will remain within their cantonments; BGB and Navy will stay in their barracks and coastal areas.
14. Bureaucrats will not go to the secretariat; DC or upazila officials will not go to their respective offices.
15. Luxury goods shops, showrooms, hotels, motels, and restaurants will remain closed.
Hours before the coordinators rejected the Prime Minister’s call for dialogue, David Bergman, a paid propagandist of the Al Qaeda-connected Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), urged students to reject this offer, indicating that the entire movement is controlled by Bergman’s boss, Tarique Rahman, a convicted terrorist living in self-exile in the United Kingdom since 2007.
Besides Bergman, the BNP also employs other disinformation peddlers and propagandists, including Jon Danilowicz, a former US diplomat who has worked for the Al Qaeda-connected party for several years.
In a statement, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Secretary General of the BNP, called on the Awami League government to “apologize and resign immediately.”
From London, Tarique Rahman reportedly asked affluent party members to fund the anti-government movement and maintain regular communication with the conveners of the ongoing student protests. In 2008, US authorities imposed visa restrictions on Tarique Rahman.
A careful scrutiny of the 15-point directives issued by the so-called student protesters reveals their ultimate agenda: to destroy Bangladesh’s prosperous economy and turn the country into a bankrupt nation like Pakistan.
The recent wave of nationwide violence and terrorist acts was anticipated when, on August 1, 2024, the Bangladesh government banned Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, designating these entities as terrorist organizations under section 18/1 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009. Jamaat-e-Islami means “congregation of Islam,” and Chhatra Shibir stands for “student camp.”
According to Russia’s leading daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Jamaat-e-Islami is also designated as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia.
With the true nature of these so-called student protests – blueprinted by the American CIA and Pakistani ISI now exposed, it is clear that Bangladesh faces a grave threat from a nexus of Islamist, jihadist, and terrorist elements seeking to destabilize the nation.
The rejection of peaceful dialogue and the issuance of destructive directives reveal an agenda that aims to cripple the economy and incite chaos. In this critical moment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the patriotic citizens of Bangladesh must take decisive and uncompromising action to preserve the nation’s sovereignty and security.
The time for leniency has passed; the survival of Bangladesh as a stable and prosperous state depends on a resolute response to these orchestrated acts of terrorism.
- Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning journalist, writer, research-scholar, and Editor, Blitz. He regularly writes for local and international newspapers. Follow him on X @Salah_Shoaib
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