Information Adviser Mahfuj Alam tried as much as possible to turn the slogans containing the word "Razakar" into rallying cries against Hasina and dictatorship on the night of 14 July last year.
Mahfuj wrote on his verified Facebook page last night that he had just returned home that night when "Nahid called and said, 'Bhai, the guys and girls have come down from the dormitories. Come to campus.'
"I went. There were processions around Raju [sculpture at the TSC], women were arriving from the dorms.
"While standing at Raju, we tried as much as possible to shift the Razakar slogans toward ones against Hasina and autocracy. From Raju, we took the procession toward the VC [office]. The plan was to stay the night, but it didn't happen. Many were not too keen on a direct confrontation. We left campus at 2:00am."
Mahfuj recalls that he suggested holding the demonstrations after 12 noon [on 15 July] because the Chhatra League would begin its programme at 2:00pm.
"The programme at Raju started around noon. While entering campus by a rickshaw, I saw the Chhatra League was bringing in bus loads of tokai [hired goons]. It felt like this was the beginning of the end for the Chhatra League.
The demonstrators marched towards the dormitories after "we heard that Baker and others were stuck at Bijoy '71…" After several clashes with pro-Awami League activists, the demonstrators planned to fight their way to Mohsin Hall.
But a female coordinator, in a moment of poor judgment, grabbed the mic and led the procession towards the business faculty building."
But helmet-wearing attackers came from the direction of Modhur Canteen, assaulted women, and dispersed the marchers.
"Exiting through Mall Chattar, we tried to regroup at the VC Chattar, but failed. Walking through Fuller Road, I felt defeated and humiliated. Hearing that many students were stuck inside Salimullah Hall, I called Sadi, the president of the [campus] journalists' association. He managed to get the trapped students out. Baker, Nahid, Asif, and I went to the BUET canteen and planned what to do on July 16.
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