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Nahid Islam, convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has dismissed claims that the Islami Chhatra Shibir directed the formation of Students Against Discrimination (SAD) and played a central role in the July Uprising as a “falsehood”.
In a lengthy Facebook post on Thursday, Nahid responded to comments made by Jamaat-e-Islami student wing’s leader Sadik Kayem in a recent talk show, bdnews24.com reports.
Sadik also claimed that Shibir had been involved in the formation of the Gonotantrik Chhatro Shokti (Democratic Student Power) and the group “followed Shibir’s instructions”.
“This is a complete fabrication,” wrote Nahid, who served as the founding central member secretary of Chhatro Shokti, which emerged in October 2023 during the anti-discrimination movement.
According to Nahid, Chhatro Shokti was formed through the convergence of various factions - part of the “Gurubar Adda” study circle, a splinter group from the Dhaka University Student Rights Council, and a study group from Jahangirnagar University.
Although some members had contact with Shibir, Nahid insisted that the group had no role in the “political processes” of Chhatro Shokti.
“We had been politically active on campus for eight years. We knew both overt and covert players. So yes, we were in contact with Dhaka University’s Shibir. But contact or occasional cooperation does not mean political inclusion,” he said.
Shibir, which had been banned from open activity at Dhaka University during the Awami League’s nearly 16 years of rule, was exposed as still active following the July Uprising that toppled the government.
On Sept 21, Sadik, a political science student from the 2016-17 batch, publicly identified himself as the president of the Dhaka University Shibir unit in a Facebook post.
Though not listed as a coordinator, Sadik was visibly active during the July protests and appeared in several photos with listed coordinators.
In a TV discussion, he claimed that key protest leaders, including Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, and Mahfuj Alam, were aware of his Shibir position since 2017 and had coordinated with him knowingly.
“We worked together, knowing each other's affiliations. There was no need to hide identities, though the environment wasn’t safe enough for open declaration,” Sadik said.
He also claimed that Shibir had multiple meetings over Chhatro Shokti’s formation and directly shaped the early anti-discrimination protests.
“On the 5th of June, Nahid, Asif, and Mahfuj called me to discuss the movement,” Sadik said. “They didn’t come to me as Sadik, but as the Shibir president.”
Nahid, however, maintained that Sadik had no leadership role when the July Uprising began.
“He only started using that identity on the 5th of August,” he wrote. “Because of Shibir’s role in the uprising, he was later allowed at the press briefing.”
He acknowledged Shibir’s participation but rejected the claim that it was their movement.
“They later launched a sweeping campaign to portray the July Uprising as a Shibir-led one. That’s not true,” Nahid said. “Decisions were made through consultation with all parties. There was no directive from Shibir.”
bdnews24.com was unable to get a response from Islami Chhatra Shibir or Sadik Kayem to Nahid’s post.