JU students stage procession, reject coordinators' 'forced' call to end quota movement from DB custody

The students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) today (29 July) staged a procession with a four-point demand, rejecting the "forced" call to end the quota reform movement from protest coordinators held "hostage" in the custody of the Detective Branch of police.

The demands of students include unconditional release of Arif Sohail, one of the coordinators of JU Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, justice for the brutal torture of the central coordinators of the movement, immediate trial of those involved in the killing of students, and an end to cases and mass arrests against students.

Students took out the procession at 4pm from the road adjacent to the central Shaheed Minar of the university. The procession circumambulated some important roads in the university and returned to the premises of Shaheed Minar and concluded with a short rally.

Speaking at the rally, Zahidul Islam, a coordinator of JU Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said, "We have seen that genocide was carried out in Kashmir and Palestine by shutting down the internet. The authoritarian government also shut down the internet and carried out genocide in Bangladesh. 

"The DB police forced the detained coordinators to call off the movement. We reject the announcement. We demand the release of all coordinators first, then we will collectively decide our next steps."

A number of teachers from various departments of the university also participated in the procession in solidarity with the students.

Professor Mohammad Golam Rabbani of the History Department said, "Students and ordinary people who were agitating for quota reform across the country have been killed. As a teacher, I demand justice for the murders. 

"I demand security for the students. Let them come back to the university and return to classes."