On Saturday, one of the key coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement, Nahid Islam, informed the media about this.
Earlier that day, during a meeting with central leaders of the Professional Coordinators Council at Ganabhaban, the Prime Minister had invited students, saying, “The doors of Ganabhaban are open. I want to sit with the protesters and listen to their concerns. I do not want conflict.”
In response, coordinator Nahid Islam said, “There is no longer any opportunity to seek justice from this murderous government or to engage in dialogue. The time for apology has passed. When there was an opportunity, the government used block raids to arrest and torture students. We will not enter into any negotiations while political prisoners like Akhtar Hossain and Arif Sohail remain in jail.”
He further mentioned, “When we were in the DB office, there were plans to take us to the Prime Minister’s office. Due to our hunger strike and street protests, that plan was unsuccessful.”
Another coordinator, Asif Mahmud, said, “When we were detained at the DB office, there were attempts to force us to meet with the Prime Minister and to suspend the movement. We were on hunger strike protesting against these attempts and demanding our release. We are prepared to pay the price of uncompromising resistance, even if it means death. We call upon every citizen of Bangladesh to join in this student-citizen uprising.”