July being used as a moneymaking machine: Umama
Former spokesperson for Students Against Discrimination (SAD) Umama Fatema yesterday alleged corruption among the platform's leaders.
She said she was "used like a tissue paper or a doormat" and claimed all key decisions came from Hare Road, where the government's advisers reside.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Umama made the remarks during a Facebook Live from her verified account early yesterday. She spoke about the circumstances under which she joined SAD as spokesperson and what she experienced afterward.
She served as spokesperson for SAD's first committee, formed in September last year following the July uprising. She left the committee and the platform altogether in June this year.
Umama was also one of the key coordinators during the uprising. Earlier, she served as member secretary of the Bangladesh Students Federation's Dhaka University unit, a post she left before joining SAD.
In the 2.20-hour-long video, Umama described her time with SAD as a "tragic chapter" and said she would no longer act as spokesperson due to "barriers created by a particular group within the platform". "The way the platform operated made it impossible for anyone with self-respect to remain involved."
Without naming individuals, she alleged that some SAD leaders were involved in extortion, tender manipulation, lobbying for the appointment of deputy commissioners, asserting dominance, and other such activities.
"It never once occurred to me that money could be made from this [being spokesperson or coordinator]… I found out only after joining… It felt like clownery.
"July–August was a lived experience. So why on Earth would I use that as a money-making machine? But unfortunately, that's what it has become common, regular," she said.
"We wanted to change the system, not create a political party and become part of it."
Umama said she had stopped attending SAD meetings since January this year.
"There were no agendas in these meetings -- no fruitful discussions, no timelines. Only decisions made at Hare Road were being implemented."
She also alleged that from the morning after August 5, the title "coordinator" was being used for extortion, to assert dominance in areas, and more.
"I was shocked. Just the day before, no one even used that title. Now everyone is a coordinator… The platform has become like the Rakkhi Bahini after the Liberation War in 1971."
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