Sajid stands bleeding but Unbowed

Shahbagh turned into a battleground on Friday, 6 February. Police fired sound grenades, tear gas, and water cannon as protesters scattered; some threw bricks while baton charges continued. Amid the gas and sticks, one young man stood motionless: head split and bleeding, back and legs bruised, yet refusing to move. That viral figure is Md Sajid, a master’s student in political science at Govt Kabi Nazrul College, who became a symbol of silent protest.

Inqilab Mancha, marching toward the Chief Adviser’s Jamuna residence to demand a proper probe into the killing of former spokesperson Shahid Sharif Osman Hadi (under a UN-linked platform), reached Shahbagh and hit police barricades. When they tried to push through, a fierce clash erupted. Police used water cannon, tear-gas shells, sound grenades, and batons; protesters say rubber bullets were also fired.

Sajid told The Daily Campus: “I was standing; police kept hitting. Then one cop tried to hug me to ‘save’ me, and I angrily pushed him away. I said, you order the beating first and then show mercy; that’s ridiculous.”

Video shows several officers circling Sajid and striking him; blood pours from his head. One officer tries to embrace him to shield him; Sajid shoves him aside in anger and hurt. Fellow protesters rushed him to hospital; his head was stitched and he had X-rays. Doctors were to give a report later; he says he is now somewhat better.

Who is Sajid?
He studied Alim at Sarshina Alia and is a classmate of Zahid Ahsan. Poet and senior alumnus Zia Haq wrote that when the state is silent, “Sajids become Everest… Sangsaptak… standing against injustice.” Zia asked what punishment awaits the officer who “sent Sajid to this hellish state,” fearing likely impunity. He lamented that people will try to label Sajid as Shibir or BNP or NCP instead of seeing him as human, saying, “Sajids burn into diamonds; we fail to be human.” He called Sajid “our era’s great rebel” and urged him to bow only before God.

Social reaction
PUSAB, wrote: “After a barrage of blows he stood firm; when one cop moved others aside to hug him, he pushed him away with both hands. How much grief and anger must fuel that refusal? His bio reads: ‘I set foot on earth for martyrdom.’”

Injuries and force used
Inqilab Mancha says over a hundred were injured. They allege rubber bullets hit member-secretary Abdullah Al Jaber and that police knocked DUCSU Liberation War and Democratic Movement Secretary Fatema Tasnim Juma to the ground and stomped her with boots. The video of Sajid standing while beaten spread widely online.

Authority response
DMP Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali said protesters were stopped after breaking police barricades while attempting to surround Jamuna, framing police action as blocking an advance that breached official barriers.

Jamaat-e-Islami and AB Party condemned the police assault on what they called a peaceful programme. On Saturday evening at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Jamaat assistant secretary general Ehsanul Mahbub Zubayer visited the injured, called the incident unacceptable, and demanded action against those responsible.

Inqilab Mancha led a march toward Jamuna to demand an impartial investigation into the killing of former spokesperson Shahid Sharif Osman Hadi under the UN. At Shahbagh the march met repeated police charges, leading to the viral image of Sajid’s silent stand.