By Thursday evening, the Facebook accounts of Asif Mahmud, Adviser for Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives and Youth and Sports; Hannan Masud, a key coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement; and Sadik Qayem, President of the Dhaka University chapter of Islami Chhatra Shibir, were restored.
However, the accounts of others, including Hasnat Abdullah, Convenor of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement; Sarjis Alam, Secretary of the July Martyrs Memorial Foundation and Chief Organizer of the Citizen Committee; and Syed Abdullah, a former law student at the university, remain inaccessible as of the time of reporting.
In addition to his personal account, Asif Mahmud also operates a verified Facebook page, which remained active throughout. The last visible status from his restored account was posted on Tuesday, January 1, at 12:26 PM.
Following this incident, many leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement have deactivated their Facebook accounts. In a Facebook post, Sadik Qayem, President of the Dhaka University chapter of Islami Chhatra Shibir, stated, “For specific security reasons, my account is being deactivated.”
The disappearance of several Facebook accounts linked to prominent leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement was initially reported on Wednesday afternoon.
A page named “Crack Platoon-Bangladesh Cyberforce” (https://www.facebook.com/p/Crack-Platoon-Bangladesh-Cyberforce-61570536179771/) claimed responsibility for disabling several accounts and pages associated with the movement. These include those of Syed Abdullah and Khan Talat Mahmud Rafi, the coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Chittagong University.
The page alleged that Syed Abdullah’s account was removed from Facebook due to accusations of engaging in anti-independence propaganda.
Another post claimed that the alleged chaos at Chittagong University over the abolition of the freedom fighter quota was orchestrated by Khan Talat Mahmud Rafi, who had been admitted under the same quota. It further accused him of being involved in anti-state conspiracies, attacks on vital state infrastructure, and police killings, which led to the permanent disabling of his account.
The page also accused Hasnat Abdullah, a prominent leader of the July Movement, of deactivating his account out of fear after it was targeted for alleged anti-liberation activities. It declared, “Our journey continues with the slogan ‘We shall keep Bangladesh’s online space free from collaborators.’ Crack Platoon-Bangladesh Cyberforce & Rajyasabha are the nemeses of anti-liberation forces.”
