Salahuddin Ammar- Photo: Collected

By Rudra Al Muttakin

RAJSHAHI, July 24, 2025 (BSS) - Salahuddin Ammar, a student of the 2021-22 session of Islamic Studies department of Rajshahi University, was one of the key coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement on campus. 

He is now actively involved in the university reform movement and frequently speaks out on campus issues. Before the uprising, Ammar was mostly focused on filmmaking and not politically vocal. It was the student movement; he said that awakened his political consciousness.

In an exclusive interview with the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), Ammar shared his memories of July uprising enunciating ins and outs of movement that saw at least 1,400 deaths and approximately 30,000 injuries.

Salahuddin Ammar said, "When I first came to university, I wanted to be a filmmaker. I worked on some film projects as an assistant, but I kept getting rejected due to distance issues. Then my father suffered a stroke, and my financial support nearly stopped. I had to find a job, so I joined a coaching centre as a marketing officer. But the job came with a big restriction-they told me I couldn't be involved in activism."

Ammar had already been active on campus in various national and international issues, including the Palestine movement. "When the High Court verdict on the quota system came in early June, I couldn't join the protests because of my job. But after Eid, when the movement reignited in July, I went to the director and said I wanted to join. He asked me to choose: the job or the protest."

"I decided to quit," he said. "I remembered the lessons of 2018's movement, and also the life I had lived-seven to eight years without being able to return to my hometown because of suspicions tied to my madrasa background and activism. In 2017, during the extremism panic, students like me were on target list. I was forced to leave my area due to one such incident."

"Even though it was a nomadic life, I felt that fighting for rights could be a personal achievement. So, on July 4, I left the job and joined the movement. Cultural activism was my strength-singing, acting, slogan-chanting-so we used these to energize the protests. We began street plays, songs, and performances on July 5 or 6."

On July 11, after protest leaders were declared "unwanted," Ammar was devastated. "I had already quit my job-was this end?" He cried alone in his room, but then reached out to second-tier leaders like Munimul bhai and Anwar bhai and resolved to carry on. On July 12, he returned to the protest despite having a fever.

"On that day, a freedom fighter told us, 'I fought in 1971, I want the quota to be abolished.' That video went viral and motivated us further. We formed a coordination committee the next day, realizing our earlier disconnect with the Dhaka-based central movement was a problem. From then on, we synced our actions with Dhaka."

On July 14, students decided to submit a memorandum to the President via the Deputy Commissioner. "We had no idea the DC office was 13 km away, but the student spirit was so strong that no one turned back. Students from RUET, Rajshahi College, and Barendra University joined-nearly two-three thousand of us walked in the blazing sun."

He recalled the night when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina referred to protesters as 'Razakars'. "We broke the locks of the girls' halls, and thousands marched from the boys' halls shouting:"Who are you? Who am I?, Razakar! Razakar!, Who said it? Who said it? Dictator! Dictator!!
On July 16, when Chhatra League members were forced off campus, Ammar received a call from Mujahid Faisal, the then Shibir's organizing secretary and Ammar's senior. "He said I wasn't safe, that NSI could pick me up anytime. I was hesitant, fearing I'd be branded a Shibir member, but eventually I went with them."

Shibir members moved him to an unknown tin-roofed house for safety. That day, he had trouble finding his way out. "I was alone, disoriented. I couldn't reach anyone. My roommate Sabbir told me to go; he said I would be fine. But I was scared."

They began preparing for possible attacks. "We crowd-funded and bought GI pipes for self-defence, attaching flags so no one could misrepresent our intent. Shibir told me, 'You are now the face of this. Stay safe. When the time is right, we'll bring you back.'"

On July 16, he rejoined thousands of students marching into the campus. "I was overwhelmed. Twenty to twenty-five thousand students-there was no beginning or end to the march. I was alone with a mic. I had no idea what to do, looking for guidance."

He led the students through the halls, room by room, removing Chhatra League control. At the end, they returned to the main gate-only to hear that student Abu Sayeed had been martyred. "Then the news of Wasim bhai's martyrdom came."

During the internet blackout, Ammar and his friends reached out to the diaspora. "I wrote on Facebook: 'Bangladesh is not okay. My friend Parvez Shakil is dead. My younger brother Rahat has both eyes shot.' From Australia to London to Japan, our friends cried, rallied, and surrounded embassies in protest."
On July 24, members from an influential agency abducted key organizers including Mokarram, Munimul, and Topu, forcing them to issue a video saying, 'the movement is over'. "I posted on Facebook: 'No one has backed out of the movement.' It went viral. That post reignited our push."

On July 29, a curfew was declared. They gathered under a tree at Binodpur Radio Field, waiting for teachers to arrive. "Two things gave us courage: our teachers and the media. If media is there, even if we're killed, the nation will know."

Security forces surrounded 80 of them with over 1,000 personnel. "Still, we chanted: Shame, shame, dictator! That slogan, posted by Pinaki Bhattacharya, spread across the nation. People began saying: the third wave of protests had begun."

The private university students had launched the second wave. Rajshahi began the third. "But this history is rarely acknowledged. We kept the movement alive. Even students from schools and colleges joined. When DB police attacked, our teachers fought back-just like in the time of Dr. Shamsuzzoha."

On August 3, Ammar finally called his mother after nearly three weeks. "My mother and father had been confined at home for days. The local chairman kept pressuring them to bring me in. My father, a stroke patient, was mentally shattered."

"My mother told me, 'I leave you to Allah. If He wills, you'll be accepted as a martyr.' I wore my funeral shroud and went out that day. We marched to Bhadra chanting 'Sheikh Hasina, step down!' We wanted to achieve change without bloodshed."

On August 4, students formed a new alliance called 'Ekjot' and brough out procession with around 15 to 20 thousand people. But Chhatra League infiltrators tried to divert the march toward New Market and a police station. "That would have been suicide," Ammar said.

As the rally reached Talaimari, Mehedi Sojib suddenly declared the program over. Ammar was stunned. "I was on the front rickshaw. Thousands behind us-what would happen to them?"

Shibir members took him away for safety. "Just as I feared, police began attacking. I didn't want this. Later I learned many girls were assaulted. I couldn't help. That night, I criticized the Shibir leadership for the first time."

"People called me a traitor online. But had we gone to New Market or attacked the police station, there could have been 10-20 deaths. I prayed that night: 'O Allah, don't let me become unwanted or dishonored. You know the truth.' Allah answered that prayer."
The day before the long march, Ammar received a chilling call: "There's a 10 crore taka bounty on your head. You'll be shot by a sniper if you ride the front rickshaw."
"But we had to go. If we didn't hold our ground in Rajshahi, who would? We united students from RU, RUET, Rajshahi College-even schools. When we reached Shah Makhdum College, the attack began."

"I was on the rickshaw hood giving slogans. Suddenly I thought, maybe a bullet will hit me now. But Ali Raihan, who later became the second martyr of Rajshahi, pulled me down and shielded me."

Ammar's voice breaks when recalling that day. "We were all united-no left, no JCD, no Shibir. Just students, fighting for justice. But will this part of history ever be told?"

The story was translated by BSS Staff Reporter Mohiuddin Muzahid Mahi.