The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement leaders at a mammoth rally at Central Shaheed Minar in the city on August 3 declared one-point demand of stepping down of autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina led government, reports BSS.
Nahid Islam, one of the key coordinators of the movement, made the announcement from the rally joined by tens of thousands of people from all walks of life at around 05:00 pm, rejecting the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina's call for dialogue. Earlier in that morning, Sheikh Hasina at a meeting with the central leaders of the Peshajibi Somonnoy Parishad at her official Ganabhaban residence said, "The door of Ganabhaban is open. I want to sit with the agitating students of the movement and listen to them. I want no conflict."
However, rejecting Sheikh Hasina's call, Nahid, also former adviser of the current interim government and now NCP chief, had said they were demanding not only the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, but also the entire cabinet. They also demanded bringing Sheikh Hasina under trial for all the killings and abductions during the movement.
Noting that they wanted to develop a political system where autocracy would never return, he urged the people to join the "student-people mass uprising" across the country.
Nahid also declared to form a Jatiya Sangram Parishad comprising people from all walks of life regardless of socio-political identities and urged the people to join their pre-declared all-out non-cooperation movement from August 4.
The rally ended at around 06:00 pm, the protesters gathered in the TSC area and blindfolded the Raju Memorial Sculpture with pieces of red cloth. Later, the protesters blocked the Shahbagh intersection at around 07:00 pm. Besides, Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, another key-coordinator of the movement, announced 15 points for the people to make the non-cooperation movement successful.
The points were: no one would pay any tax, all would refrain from paying any kind of utility bills, all government and private institutions, offices, courts and mills and factories would remain closed, people would not go to office but collect their salary at the end of the month, educational institutions would remain closed, expatriates would not send any remittance to the country through banking channels, people would boycott all government meetings, seminars and events, port workers would not go to work and not unload any kind of goods, no mills and factories would run in the country, RMG workers would not go to work, public transport would not ply, workers would not go to work, banks would only remain open on every Sunday for urgent transactions, police would only perform their routine duties at their stations, they would not perform any protocol, riot or protest duties, not a single taka would be smuggled out of the country, and no offshore transactions would take place, except BGB and Navy, other forces would not perform duty outside the cantonment, BGB and Navy would be in their barracks and coastal areas, bureaucrats would not go to the secretariat, deputy commissioners (DCs) or upazila officials would not go to their respective offices and luxury goods shops, showrooms, shops, hotels, motels and restaurants would remain closed.
Earlier, on that day, the people started flocking to the Central Shaheed Minar defying rain since morning, carrying the national flag, banners, and placards from across the city while crowd poured over onto the Doyel Chattar in the east, Jagannath Hall in the west, Dhaka Medical College Hospital gate in the south, and Shibbari intersection in the north.
The areas reverberated with the slogan "Dofa Ek, Dabi Ek, Sheikh Hasinar Podotyag (One point, one demand, the resignation of Sheikh Hasina".