July Uprising has been weaponized for making money: Umama Fatema

 
The spirit and goal of the July Revolution have come under fire due to recent exposure of a great deal of youths who claim themselves to be student coordinators and thus they intimidate naïve people and compel them to pay bribes to these youngsters. These extortionists for the most part are allegedly tied up with frontline leaders of National Citizens Party (NCP) and Anti-Discriminatory Students' Movement which brought about a countrywide mass upheaval in July and August 2024 leading to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's escape to India.

The Anti-Discriminatory Students' Movement leaders have taken these allegations seriously and have dissolved all their committees except the central council on the basis of extortion complaints against their activists almost everywhere in Bangladesh.

Umama Fatema, former spokesperson for the Anti-Discriminatory Students' Movement, has said the July uprising has unfortunately been turned into a "money-making machine."

She made the remark during a two-hour and 24-minute live session on her verified Facebook profile on Sunday night, where she shared a detailed account of her involvement with the platform and her eventual exit. Umama said: "July-August was a lived experience, and it never occurred to me that one could make money out of it. So why on earth would I turn it into a money-making machine? But unfortunately, that is what it has become. It has happened very commonly, on a very regular basis.

"People say I made millions. All I can say is, I have a pretty good life. I come from a well-off family. I have never had to struggle financially. I do not need to use any identity to get a scholarship abroad. Allah has blessed me with a good CGPA, and I have studied a good subject as well. Thankfully, my family supports me. They do not see me as a money-making machine. They see me as a human being and want me to do something meaningful for the country."

Referring to how the label of "coordinator" was misused immediately after the uprising, Umama said: "From the morning of August 5, I saw people using the 'coordinator' identity to take over spaces. Just the day before, people were reluctant to even identify as a coordinator. Suddenly, I was hearing about extortion and control under that name… It felt like a 'coordinator force' was forming, like the Rakkhi Bahini. I thought, what is the point of this platform anymore? Instead of controlling it, we should decentralize and expand it. That was not a wrong thought. But saying it made many people turn against me."

She continued: "The [July] declaration event for December 31 was announced suddenly, then later cancelled. I was very upset about it. By mid-January, I heard they were forming a political party. I was not interested in being part of a party. By the end of January, I decided to leave the movement. In the second week of February, some members approached me and said, 'Apu, come back. Let us rebuild the platform together.' Later, I was accused of trying to take control. But I always saw my involvement as a responsibility. To me, the platform had lost its value - although for many, it was precious, as it gave access to DC-SP offices and government departments."

She added: "I have wasted a lot of time in the past year. If I had focused on my own work, I could have done something better. The mental toll has been heavy, because we had dreams to do something for the country. Others might not have had that dream - maybe their dream was extortion. You brought me in and used me like tissue paper. But I am not a tissue paper!"

News coverage from different media outlets has in the meantime exposed a broad number of students extorting money from political leaders and businessmen in recent months. Five students were arrested by police personnel a couple of days ago on charges of attempting to snatch 50 lakh taka from ousted political outfit Awami League leader and former MP Shammi Ahmed at her Gulshan residence in Dhaka city. Allegations show that these five extortionists are closely associated with National Citizens Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam. Nahid Islam was one of the key leaders in the July Revolution 2024 which toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and unseated Awami League from power which ruled Bangladesh from 2009 to 2024.

Some journalists and netizens have complained on social media that most of the extortionists who suddenly became influential since August 2024 are loyal to Nahid Islam, Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah. Allegedly these young student leaders are abusing power, scolding Bangladesh Army and dictating senior bureaucrats. Moreover, reports have surfaced that many more young people all over Bangladesh are extorting huge sums of cash from traders and political opponents citing their intimate alliance with the leaders of Anti-Discriminatory Students' Movement and NCP high-ups.