The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has issued an ultimatum to the government to fulfil their five demands, including removal of President Mohammed Shahabuddin and the scrapping of the 1972 constitution, within this week.

Making the demands during a gathering at the Central Shaheed Minar yesterday, Hasnat Abdullah, a coordinator of the platform, said Chhatra League has to be banned and a "proclamation of the republic" must be made to rebuild a post-2024 Bangladesh in consultation with democratic and functioning political parties.

He said the authorities must abolish the 1972 constitution immediately and a new one has to be drafted that would reflect the spirit of the uprising.

Hasnat said the three national elections, held in 2014, 2018, and 2024, must be declared illegal.

He also demanded the confiscation of assets of those who served as members of parliament during these periods, and asked for legal measures to bar them from participating in future elections.

Hasnat said Chhatra League should be identified as a "terrorist organisation" and permanently banned. "If the government failed to meet our demands within this week, we would return to the streets with full force."

He said that the revolution would only be complete when all democratic political parties, be it BNP, Jamaat, right-wing, left-wing, or otherwise, are allowed to operate freely to safeguard the future of Bangladesh.

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Pressure piles on president to step down

Hasnat in a Facebook post last night said, "The advisory council of the interim government has given us time for a discussion tomorrow [today]. We expect that the interim government will make a decision after the discussion to implement the five-point demand of the student community."

Hasnat said, "We want to ensure within this week that Chhatra League, Jubo League, Awami League, and the cultural, media organisations that follow Mujib's ideology and its way of life would be uprooted from the country forever."  

He said, "Our revolution is not over. On August 5, we ousted mafia Sheikh Hasina. But we have not yet been able to establish a new political settlement.

"Many political parties have been persecuted, oppressed, and victimised over the last 16 years. We have seen BNP and Jamaat being oppressed and persecuted. My brothers from Chhatra Dal could not come to campus. They were beaten like animals on the streets by Chhatra League terrorists. Killing Shibir members had become justified.

Student leaders addressing the crowd and the media at the Central Shaheed Minar. Photo: Amran Hossain

"Across the country and on campuses, there are democratic political parties, the BNP, Jamaat, right-wing, left-wing, or any other ideology, who engage in politics for the future of the country. Until we can restore their legitimate and democratic rights, our revolution will not be over."

At the gathering yesterday, Nasir Uddin Patwary, convener of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, said, "We don't want any part of the fascist government to be in the country. The president was part of the group that opened fire on students and the public. We, too, demand his resignation."

He also called for justice for those involved in state-run agencies responsible for numerous enforced disappearances and murders and demanded that the Awami League be banned.

The protests erupted after the president was quoted by the media that he had no documentary evidence that Hasina resigned.

"I tried [to collect the resignation letter] many times but failed. Maybe she did not get the time," the president said when Manab Zamin Chief Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury met him and wanted to know about Hasina's resignation letter.

The daily's political magazine "Janatar Chokh" on Sunday carried a piece on the conversation.

"There is no room for debate in this regard anymore. The prime minister has left and that is the truth. Even then, just to ensure this question never arises again, I sought the Supreme Court's opinion on the matter," he was quoted as saying.

The Bangabhaban in a statement on Monday urged everyone to refrain from stirring a debate out of a settled issue and embarrassing the government.

Hasina fled to India on August 5 amid a mass student protest that started in early July. The president during his address to the nation on August 5 said he received Hasina's resignation letter.