Desk Report:
The day before the Awami League government fell in the student-people’s uprising, the coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement discussed the formation of a new government with Dr. Muhammad Yunus on August 4 last year, said Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP). He said that on that day, Dr. Yunus was offered the responsibility of the new head of government.
Nahid Islam made these remarks on the second day of testifying against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and three other accused in the case of crimes against humanity committed in the killings carried out across the country in July-August during the anti-discrimination student movement.
This testimony was taken at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 headed by Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Majumder.
47 people have testified in this case. The accused in the case, Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, are absconding. Another accused, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, gave his statement as a public witness.
Nahid Islam said in his statement, “On August 4 last year, we held a sit-in and protest program in Shahbagh. On that day, we announced the March to Dhaka program on August 6. The government then declared a curfew and carried out a massive massacre across the country. We learned that the government had made extensive preparations to thwart the August 6 program. Mobile phones and internet services would be shut down. We could be killed or disappeared. That is why we set the March to Dhaka program a day ahead for August 5.”
He said, “On August 5, people from all over the country started coming to Dhaka. We stayed in Shahbagh. Shots were fired at the protesters in the Shaheed Minar and Chankharpul areas. When the army left the Shahbagh road at one stage, the area turned into a sea of people within a few moments. We heard that millions of people were entering through the entrances to Dhaka. We left Shahbagh for Ganabhaban with a procession. On the way, we received news that Sheikh Hasina had resigned in the face of mass protests and fled in a helicopter. That day, we received news of widespread killings across the country.’
The NCP convener told the tribunal, ‘After the fall of the government on August 5, we, the coordinators, held a press conference and demanded the release of all political prisoners and the formation of an interim national government. We also said that we will not accept any kind of military rule or military-backed rule.’
He said, ‘The police and various law enforcement agencies opened fire on the protesters indiscriminately. They were even ordered to open fire from helicopters. Terrorists from the Awami League and its affiliates opened fire with weapons and tortured them.’
Nahid blamed ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the police and the heads of various law enforcement agencies for all the killings and atrocities in July-August. He prayed for justice from the tribunal.
