Had left a video message on Aug 5 for armed struggle: Adviser Nahid

Adviser Nahid Islam has said that he had prepared a video message on August 5 for circulation, calling for an armed struggle should the Sheikh Hasina government commit genocide on the day.

Nahid, one of the coordinators of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement that led to the July-August mass uprising, made the disclosure at a programme in the capital on Tuesday.

Speaking as a special guest at the prayer and discussion session in memory of the July Movement martyr Nasib Hasan Riyan, the advisor said, "On August 5, which is 36 July, we recorded a video in which I stated that if there is any genocide or massacre were to take place today, we would call for an armed struggle.

“We may not return; you’ll continue to fight. I sent the video to some journalists. If I do not return today, if we do not achieve victory today, then this will be our last message. We were all prepared for death, and we still are."

The adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, said, "At that time, everyone was ready to become a martyr. Nasib declared on Facebook that he was going to the streets, telling his family that he might die today. For those of us who were in the field, this was our reality."

Nahid said there is a collective desire to build a dignified, just, and corruption-free Bangladesh. "The people across the country share this aspiration, and we’ll all work together for it."