Umama Fatema, former spokesperson of Students Against Discrimination (SAD), has criticised the organisation following the arrest of five individuals, including Dhaka Metropolitan SAD leader Abdur Razzak Riad, on extortion charges at the Gulshan residence of former Awami League MP Shammi Ahmed, according to a Facebook post she shared on Saturday night.
Umama, who resigned from Umama Fatema last month citing corruption and dishonesty, said she was “least surprised” by the arrests, claiming the accused had long been involved in “Gulshan-Banani gang culture” and had previously faced internal allegations of threats, violence, and extortion.
She wrote, “People are acting so shocked, but this is only the first time they’ve been caught by the police while extorting. If you dig deeper, you will understand that their roots go much deeper.”
On Saturday night, Umama shared this statement along with photos of the five arrestees on her verified Facebook page. During last year’s mass uprising in July, Umama served as the central coordinator of Students Against Discrimination. She was later appointed as the organisation’s spokesperson, a role she left last month.
Here is an excerpt from her Facebook post regarding the arrests, “Many of my acquaintances are pretending to be so shocked by the news that five people associated with Students Against Discrimination are involved in extortion. But I feel I am the least surprised of all. These boys were seen providing protocol for leaders for a long time. From the Secretariat to rallies and fights, they were always there acting as the right and left hand of the coordinators.
There have been countless internal allegations against them for being involved in the Gulshan-Banani gang culture, the post reads.
This boy named Riad in the photo behaved very rudely in front of me last December at Rupayan Tower. When we girls tried to stop him, he turned on us aggressively. After that incident, I investigated him and found he already had multiple allegations of threats, fighting, and extortion. I wasn’t surprised, because by then, people like him had become a common presence in Students Against Discrimination, it stated.
They used to come and go freely at Rupayan Tower. If anyone raised complaints about corruption or dishonesty, the response was complete silence. I saw with my own eyes how these people managed to gain access and power, Umama’s post raeds.
After so many months, I honestly have no words left to describe this platform. Everyone has ruined it in their own way, she wrote.
Seeing everyone so shocked by today’s extortion news is almost laughable.
Oh! People are so innocent! Like newborns, they have just discovered that these boys are committing extortion.
Sorry, my friends, but this is simply the first time they’ve been caught by the police while extorting. If you dig deeper, you’ll see their roots go much deeper,” Umama’s post reads depicting her sheer frustration over the issue.