SAD suspends activities of all committees except central body

Students Against Discrimination (SAD) has suspended the activities of all its regional and district-level committees across the country, excluding the central committee, amid allegations of corruption and misuse of the organisation's banner.

The announcement was made by Rifat Rashid, president of the organisation, at an emergency press conference held on Sunday evening in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh.

Rifat stated, “Following yesterday’s incident and several others, we have observed attempts to misuse the name of the Students Against Discrimination for various unethical activities. From the very beginning, we had warned that such actions would not be tolerated. However, we later found that, under the influence of different political parties, some members became involved in corruption, which has now become nearly impossible for us to control.”

He further said that, in light of the situation, an emergency meeting of the organisational structure was convened, attended by four members.

Based on their collective advice, it was decided that all activities of the movement, except those of the central committee, will be suspended effective immediately.

“We will soon sit together to outline how future activities will be carried out,” he said.

“This platform was built for student uprising and will not tolerate any form of corruption or irregularities,” Rifat added. 

The decision comes a day after the arrest of five individuals, including Dhaka Metropolitan Convener Ibrahim Hossain (Munna) and two other SAD leaders, along with a leader from the Democratic Student Council.

They were detained while allegedly attempting to extort money from the family of a former Awami League lawmaker in the capital's Gulshan.