On this day last year, throngs of demonstrators from across the capital converged on the Shaheed Minar, answering the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’s (ADSM) call for a mass protest rally.
In Shaheed Minar, Coordinator Nahid Islam replaced the previous nine-point charter with a new single-point demand: the resignation of the government. To press this demand, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement would launch a full-scale non-cooperation movement starting August 4.
Three Awami League leaders were tasked with the discussions with the ADSM Coordinators. However, they rejected the idea and said that the decision will come from the streets.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said: “The doors of Ganabhaban are open. I want to sit with the quota reform protesters and listen to them. I do not want conflict.”
The protesters blocked the major highways of the country. Nationwide clashes continued between the government and the protesters. Many journalists, including Dhaka Tribune’s senior reporter Nawaz Farhin Antara, were attacked by Jubo League activists in Dhanmondi. Antara was surrounded by around a hundred activists equipped with local weapons and pistols.
At the Officers’ Address, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said the Bangladesh Army, a symbol of public trust, will always stand by the people and serve the nation’s needs.
Several political parties joined the protest, demanding the resignation of the government.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir called on all party leaders and activists nationwide to fully support the students’ legitimate movement. The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) held a protest rally in Paltan. Islamic Andolan Bangladesh held a protest march in front of the National Press Club.
In Chittagong, the homes of BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Vice Chairman Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin, former city committee convener Shahadat Hossain, and another party leader came under attack and
vandalism. BNP leaders alleged that members of the Chhatra League and Jubo League were involved in the attack.
Also, the residence of Education Minister Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury in Chittagong was attacked. The residents alleged that the incidents took place during a procession by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement
More than six hundred Faculty members of BRAC University issued a statement expressing solidarity with the ongoing student movement. They demanded accountability for those responsible for the killings and abuses of students.
The Awami League announced a new two-day program. On August 4, the party was set to hold gatherings in wards across the capital as well as in districts and metropolitan areas.
On August 5, they were supposed to hold a mourning procession from the Engineers Institution to Bangabandhu Bhaban in the capital in memory of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, those killed on August 15, and those who died in the recent violence.
The total number of arrestees crossed 11,000 since the beginning of the movement.
