July Uprising: Student leaders detained as protesters issue fresh demands

On July 27, 2024, detectives detained anti-discrimination student movement coordinators Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah, hours after three other coordinators�"Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan and Abu Bakar Majumdar�"were taken into DB custody from Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital.

Police said the coordinators were taken into custody for security reasons. The arrests came after the student movement rejected the government’s notification on quota reform following a court verdict.

At an online press conference that night, protesters issued a 24-hour ultimatum, demanding the release of all detained students, withdrawal of what they described as false cases, and legal action against those responsible for the killings during the movement. They warned of tougher programmes if the demands were not met.

Movement leaders said communication among coordinators had been disrupted by the arrests, making it difficult to coordinate activities. They also claimed thousands of students had been detained and hundreds of people killed during the unrest.

For July 28, the movement announced nationwide online and offline campaigns, including outreach to foreign embassies, wall-painting programmes, and the formation of “Health Force” and “Legal Force” teams to support victims, document cases and provide legal assistance.

A delegation of university teachers also visited the DB office seeking information about the detained coordinators but was unable to meet senior officials.

Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, in an interview with The Hindu, called for an early free and fair election to restore democracy and urged international attention to the violence.

Separately, former DUCSU vice-president Nurul Haque Nur was arrested in connection with the quota reform movement. Authorities also filed hundreds of cases over vandalism and arson linked to the protests, with thousands of arrests reported nationwide.