Cumilla students forms counter-committee against anti-discrimination student movement

Students in Cumilla have rejected the newly formed Comilla Metropolitan Committee by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Center, calling it 'undesirable,' and have established their own counter-committee.

The 16-member committee was announced in a brief rally held in front of the Cumilla Press Club around 10.00pm on Saturday (November 23).

Earlier in the day, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Center announced a 197-member Comilla Metropolitan Convening Committee on its verified Facebook page, with Abu Raihan, a student of Comilla University, appointed as convener. The committee was approved for the next six months with the signatures of central leaders Hasnat Abdullah and Arif Sohel.

However, students who were excluded from the committee positions protested, claiming the new committee excluded key activists who had led the anti-discrimination movement. Syed Azharul Amin, convenor of the new committee, criticized the central leaders for not including those who had been at the forefront of the protests.

Azharul criticized the central leaders for excluding those who had been at the forefront of the anti-discrimination student movement.

“We, who risked our lives during the movement, have been deprived of positions in this committee,” he said.

Ishraq Molla, the new committee's member secretary, echoed the sentiment, questioning whether "many of the original coordinators had been included in the new committee."

Abu Raihan, convener of the central committee, responded, saying, "The committee formation did not involve political party members."

"The protesting students would reconcile and work together for the benefit of the country," he added.

Around fifty students from various educational institutions, including Cumilla Victoria Government College, Cumilla Government College, and CCN Science and Technology University, participated in the protest.