On July 14, 2024, the Dhaka University campus reverberated with chants of “Who are you? Who am I?—Razakar, Razakar,” following a controversial remark by Sheikh Hasina. Two months later, the same slogan was heard again as students took to the streets to protest.
On Sunday night (September 15), around 10 PM, a group of students braved the rain and marched across campus from various halls. The procession passed Muhsin Hall, Nilkhet Mor, VC Square, and ended at the Raju Memorial Sculpture.
Students chanted slogans such as “Who are you, who am I? Razakar, Razakar,” “Who said it? Who said it? Tyrant, tyrant,” “DU’s soil is the stronghold of Razakars,” “We wanted rights, but we became Razakars,” and “Our history will not be distorted; the people are witnesses, distortion will not be tolerated.”
AB Zubair, co-coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said, “When Sheikh Hasina called us Razakars, Dhaka University and the whole of Bangladesh ignited in anger. Yet now, some are trying to change this slogan, which resonated throughout the country. Why such inferiority complex over a slogan that unified us?”
He urged those attempting to distort the history of 2024 to acknowledge their mistake and apologize.
“We are ready to shed more blood if necessary to preserve every symbol of the 2024 revolution,” he added.
Musaddiq Ibn Mohammad, another co-coordinator, accused certain groups of trying to erase the memory of the mass uprising. He said, “Hasina used the ‘Razakar’ tag to roll out oppression on opposition parties, and that same slogan has now turned her into one of the most despised figures in history.”
The controversy started when, on July 14, following a decision to reinstate the freedom fighter quota, Sheikh Hasina responded to a journalist’s question, saying, “Why so much anger against the Liberation War and freedom fighters? Will the grandchildren of Razakars get quotas instead?”
This comment enraged students at Dhaka University and beyond, sparking nationwide protests with the now-iconic “Who are you, who am I? Razakar, Razakar” slogan.
Marking the July 14 events, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, advisor to the Ministry of Sports and central coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, posted a status on Facebook on the night of September 14. Other leaders, such as Abu Bakr Majumder, Nusrat Tabassum, and Rafi from Chittagong University, also shared similar posts.
Their posts reiterated the movement’s primary slogan: “Who is the Razakar? You are the Razakar!” However, attempts to replace this with other slogans triggered a wave of criticism on social media.