Abdul Kader, one of the key coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and anticipated to be one of the key leaders of the upcoming new political student organization, spoke to Dhaka Tribune’s Mahathir Mohammed in an exclusive interview, sharing his thoughts on the new student organization.
Senior leaders of the ADSM platform are moving to the JNC-based party and junior ones are moving to your upcoming organization, so who will be leading the ADSM platform?
After the mass uprising under the banner of ADSM, those who didn’t have any party to return to stayed. They can be categorised into two groups—one group is interested in politics, and the other has no political ambition and wants to be engaged in work related to the mass uprising.
Those shifting toward political organizations have been politically active for the past few years and naturally choose this side. The reason that no popular face remains on this platform is that those individuals have already become the face of this movement through their political activism.
Thus, those who have worked in different sectors and have no political affiliation or ambition will remain on the ADSM platform and continue to work for the Mass Uprising—for example, rehabilitating martyr families, treating the injured, keeping the memory of July relevant to the people, etc.
The newly emerging party from the Jatiya Nagorik Committee is having disputes over a particular position. Are you facing similar problems in your upcoming organization?
As you know, there were two segments of power behind the July Mass Uprising: one composed of students and the other of citizens—that is, those who were involved in activism on campuses over the last 5–10 years but whose student life is now over. This segment became evident after their program, which followed the one-point demand. They had been functioning unsystematically before this, but became organised afterward. The formation of the JNC is a manifestation of this.
With the formation of any organization, the most crucial question that arises is leadership—who will hold leading positions and who will have a stake in policy making. This is common in any organization, and our upcoming organization is no exception. We have been holding meetings continuously for the past 7 days. We have dissolved “Gonotantrik Chatro Shokti” to prevent recent joiners from thinking they will not be given leading positions. Now, everyone is assured that they will be able to contest for a leading position.
There is a culture in Bangladesh where obtaining a post on a committee is equated with having power. I personally think the July Mass Uprising has changed that equation. Students did not show the vengefulness and aggressiveness they were expected to display toward the Awami League; instead, they also made an effort to preserve state property when the administration was not functional. These people are coming to our organization out of a sense of duty, obligation, and meaning. They also demonstrate unity, flexibility, tolerance, and a compromising attitude.
As an emerging organization, we have many opposing parties; if there were any conflicts among us regarding top positions, I believe it would have been announced already.
You announced that you will be conducting moderate politics. How are you planning to ensure that everyone from different ideologies will work for the sake of this organization, and how will you manage if there are any ideological clashes?
The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement was an inclusive platform where Chhatra Dal, Shibir, and leftist organizations worked together. However, after 5 August, they all returned to their parties, while a large portion of students who do not belong to any particular organization remained. We are starting our journey with these people. The extreme left and right have returned to their parties; those who are still here are moderate. By moderate, I mean those who do not favour extremism and only want to engage in Bangladesh-based politics. Because we are emerging as a student organization, we will choose those who work for the sake of the students.
We want to work within the culture of this region. The culture of Bengali Muslims is not one of extreme Islamism, and the culture of Bengali Hindus is not extremely leftist. While religion-based political organizations may wish to practice extreme Islam here, the masses of this region do not align with that—they tend to both pray and smoke cigarettes and do not exhibit any extreme tendencies. I may not be able to pray five times a day like most people, but any of us will be furious and take to the streets if Allah or the Prophet is insulted. We will continue to work with people who nurture this kind of mindset.
For example, the JNC has incorporated both extreme right and extreme left factions with the aim of making them coexist. Our emerging organization is not obliged to create mutual understanding among these parties, and we have already seen that this does not work well. They are experiencing clashes regarding the formation of a new political party, with each party trying to monopolise power. We are not obliged to work with everyone from the start. We have stated that those who are older than 28 years will not hold any post in the central committee, and in campus-based committees, eligibility will cease after 7 years of starting one’s honors program.
What will be the recruitment process and who will be eligible to join?
The foundation of this organization will be the spirit of July. Those who express solidarity with that spirit and do not have any conflicts with it will be the main criterion for recruitment. Persons affiliated with the extreme left or right will not be allowed. If you ask how we will determine this, it will be based on a person’s previous activities. Someone may not have any formal affiliation, but if their social media posts suggest that they support a particular side, we are under no obligation to allow them to join and create chaos.
We meet with approximately 500 students per day at DU alone, but we will not be recruiting that many people. The committee will consist of 120–150 members—no more than that. We can recruit everyone, but we do not want a mess. We want qualified people who will conduct student-centric work after evaluation, rather than simply increasing manpower.
Is this emerging organization coming for the upcoming Ducsu election? If yes, then why?
Every student organization affiliated with the government since our liberation has kept students—who mostly come from middle-class families—hostage for a seat in the halls. The student wings act as guards for their mother parties, using the students to secure important posts in committees. An effort to change this culture was observed after 16 July, when the Chhatra League directly attacked protesting students. The main motive behind this effort was to eradicate the culture of torture and holding students hostage.
To solve this, we need strong student representation, which is another crucial part of the spirit of July—enabling student parliament elections on campuses. We were disorganized for a long time, so after becoming politically organized, our top priority will be enabling student parliament elections on campuses.
Will you be presenting yourself as the leader of a new student organization or as a Ducsu VP candidate?
Because I have been involved in student-centric work and campus activism for a long time, I believe there is more to be done here. When the Chhatra League was in power, many things couldn’t be done, but now there is a workable environment. Many have been injured and many have died to create this environment, so I believe there is much more that I can offer.
I don’t think it’s time to join any mainstream political party now; rather, I think I have much to offer and learn from the campus, and I want to work for the students.
Do you follow Akhtar Hossain?
It’s not a matter of following Akhtar or Nahid; I engage in ideology-based politics. If a person holds my preferred ideology, I will follow or work with them. I would gladly support any good cause from anyone, even if there is an ideological difference.
