Looking back on September 28, 2024: Everything that happened on that day

Witness BD

🔲 ‘Push the reset button, everything is gone!’- Dr. Yunus
🔲 Textbook revision committee canceled
🔲 Demand to declare the anti-discrimination student movement extinct

1. Dr. Yunus, the head of the interim government of Bangladesh, gave an interview to Voice of America Bangla in New York, USA, after his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, September 27. The interview was conducted for Voice of America by Anis Ahmed.

In the context of improving visible relations with Pakistan, Anis Ahmed raised questions about the 1971 genocide. Dr. Yunus said, “That is a separate issue. How will it be with Pakistan…but SAARC is an established truth. We accept that truth…we want SAARC to be a strong institution. Everyone should work together. There should be India, there should be Pakistan. As many countries as there are, everyone should live equally. We wanted that if such an opportunity came, we, the heads of government of SAARC, would take a picture together. This would have also sent a beautiful message to everyone. But that was not possible. Maybe I will try to make it possible in the future.”

At one point, he was asked, “What was known as the Bangabandhu Museum on Road No. 32 in Dhanmondi was destroyed after August 5. Your government has also canceled the official holiday on August 15. Many sculptures of Bangabandhu have been demolished. There is a lot of criticism about this. Again, many people say that they see Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as an icon of fascism. They say that this is why this happened. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been recognized as the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh for a long time. What is your government’s view on this?”

With a clear look of annoyance on his face and heat in his voice, Dr. Yunus replied, “You were talking about old times. You don’t seem to remember that there was a mass uprising. You are talking as if these events never happened. So, you have to look at what is happening in a new way. You don’t have any questions about how many boys gave their lives. Why did they give their lives? Let them come. So, first, we have to admit that the students have said that we have pushed the reset button. Everything is gone. The past is definitely gone. Now we will build in a new way. The people of the country also want it. We have to reform what we have to move forward in a new way.”

2. Finally, the coordination committee formed to revise and revise the textbooks has been abolished. It was abolished by an office order of the Secondary and Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education.

On September 15, the Ministry of Education formed a 10-member committee to revise and revise textbooks. It was headed by Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education Dr. K.M. Kabirul Islam. Mentioning the names of committee members Dhaka University professors Kamrul Hasan Mamun and Samina Lutfa, the scholars demanded the immediate removal of ‘identified anti-Islam and anti-national individuals’ and the inclusion of academicians representing the patriotic Muslim community. At a meeting in Jamalpur, Khelafat Majlis leader Mamunul Haque alleged that “the commission formed in the name of Education Commission includes promoters of homosexuality.”

3. The Revolutionary Students’ Alliance has demanded that the anti-discrimination student movement platform be declared extinct. The organization’s president Dilip Roy and general secretary Jabir Ahmed Jubel made this demand in a joint statement on Friday, September 27.

The leaders said that it is unreasonable to continue the platform, which was formed around the quota reform movement, saying, “Currently, this platform has reached an authoritarian place. Now, what is happening across the country in the name of this platform is basically ignoring the popular aspirations for a mass uprising.”

They further said, “In the present time, this platform has been transformed into a pro-government student organization. The coordinator of this platform called the students to the Ansar movement and brought the Ansars and students face to face, which later turned into a clash. I have seen such actions done by the leaders of the previous Chhatra League.”

“We also see that the coordinators have taken themselves to such a level of authority in every university that they are making the vice-chancellors of the universities read the oath. We have also seen news of them interfering in various decisions of the administration in the name of coordinators in various universities. Not only that, they have supported gang killings, and have traveled all over the country with state protocols to implement their own political mandate.”

The leaders demanded the abolition of the platform and urged the countrymen, “What is happening all over the country is terrifying us. It is making it clear that a part of the state is trying to be dishonest with the mass uprising. As a result, people from all classes and professions must play an important role in the fight to build a democratic Bangladesh. We must continue the strong struggle in the coming days.”

Source: Prothom Alo, October 3, 2024. Dhaka Tribune, September 28, 2024. Samakal, September 29, 2024