This chilling statement echoes through the powerful images that circulated during the anti-discrimination student movement, becoming a symbol of resistance and fueling the protest. One such image holds a significant story behind it.
Nahidul Islam, a political science student at New Model Degree College in Dhaka, was deeply involved in the anti-discrimination student movement from the beginning. He participated actively in various programs. On July 31, during the ‘March for Justice’ campaign, Nahidul faced harassment when he took to the streets with over a hundred people in a rally. As they approached the Eidgah Gate near the High Court, the police blocked their path and detained several participants. The police gradually moved the students towards Matsya Bhaban, where Nahidul continued chanting slogans.
It was then that two police officers grabbed Nahidul, dragging him while hurling insults at him. One of the officers even covered Nahidul’s mouth, a moment captured in a photograph that later spread widely on social media, becoming a voice of protest.
Nahidul recalls, “I was addressing him as ‘Sir’ and trying to explain, but he wasn’t listening. He said, ‘You have been brainwashed. You are possessed by the spirit of Jamaat.’ I told him, ‘You cannot blame me without any evidence.’ At one point, he became extremely angry and said, ‘Don’t say a word, if you do, I’ll kill you.’ That’s when he covered my mouth.”
Nahidul alleges that while being taken away, he was punched, kicked, and hit from behind. Later, when lawyer Mahbub Uddin and several human rights activists protested the students’ detention, the police, under pressure, released Nahidul and the others. He was in police custody for about an hour.
