'Quota movement part of domestic-foreign conspiracy'

The issue of quota in government jobs has been settled by the court. Still, the movement is going on with various demands. Who is continuing the movement even after their demand has been met?

Speakers raised the question at a roundtable, titled “Terrorism, Sabotage and Current Political Context”, organised by social and cultural organization Gaurab '71 at the VIP Lounge of the National Press Club on Monday (July 29).

Speakers also said that all these signs are not good. The nature of the movement seems to be part of a domestic-foreign conspiracy.

At the event, Bangladesh Awami League Joint General Mahbubul Alam Hanif said, “On July 21, when the Appellate Division delivered its verdict on the quota issue, the people of the country thought that the movement would no longer be necessary. Students got more than what they expected from the quota reforms. But a new level of violence started after the court verdict, because the BNP-Jamaat alliance strategically stood behind the students to press their one-point demand of toppling the government. The main players are now not the students. The main driving force of this movement is now BNP-Jamaat.”

Whip of the parliament Advocate Sanjida Khanam said, "Bangladesh became independent after a lot of bloodshed. The blood of three million martyrs cannot go in vain. Let's all be united in the field. The demands of the students have been met - they should not allow themselves to be used as shield.”

Awami League's relief and social welfare secretary Aminul Islam Amin said, "Is there anywhere in the world where the defeated power is flourishing after 53 years of independence? Did we want this destroyed Bangladesh? Whoever died, police or student, we did not want a single drop of blood to be spilled."

National Press Club President Farida Yasmin said, “Miscreants who cannot tolerate Awami League, who do not want to see the development and progress of Bangladesh, carried out the destruction by using students as shields.

General Secretary of Jatiya Press Club Shyamal Dutta said, "It is being said that there was a conspiracy of sabotage, but how did this sabotage happen? It is part of a domestic-foreign conspiracy. Meetings were held on July 9 and 17 to strengthen the movement in foreign missions. But no action was taken despite detectives having such information.”

“Most of the people of the country were in favour of quota reform. It could have been solved in the beginning. We did not realize that any third party had entered the movement. The conspiracy was being planned for a long time; we didn't realize it," he added.