Gonodhikar Parishad President and former DUCSU VP Nurul Haque Nur on Saturday warned that unless meaningful state reforms are undertaken, any future government may again choose to use law enforcement and administration as 'party cadres'.
Speaking as the chief guest at a programme organized by the Ain Odhikar Parishad, Nur recalled the brutal crackdown during the July Uprising, and the torture he faced in the Detective Branch office following his arrest.
“Will we continue to be oppressed and tortured again and again?” he asked. “It took long years of struggle to come this far. Without the movements of 2018 and the 2019 DUCSU election, the 2024 protests wouldn’t have happened.”
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Referring to last year's July protests, he said, “Most of the leaders of that movement were from Chhatra Adhikar Parishad. People credit us now, but no one remembers the backstory. No one has endured as much torture and oppression as I have,” he claimed.
Nur emphasized the need for sustainable change through systemic reforms: “Everyone wants change to be sustainable. For that, we need reforms in our state structure and administration.”
He also noted that although many contributed to the movement, “there are no parents of a movement — it takes many roles to keep it alive.”
Referring to offers made by the ruling party, Nur said, “Sheikh Hasina offered us every possible benefit. But we didn’t fall for those, and that’s why the fall of fascism was possible.”
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Welcoming criticism, he said, “Without criticism, politicians become arrogant. Criticism is acceptable in politics. Anyone should be able to criticize anyone.”
On electoral reform, Nur reiterated his support for a partial proportional representation (PR) system. “We have been demanding this since 2021,” he said. “But our proposed format differs from what parties like Jamaat-e-Islami suggest. First, we must ensure two houses in parliament — and we want PR in the upper house,” he added.