My name is Tahmid, a citizen of Bangladesh.

I am here in Canada with my twin brother

Tahsin. Both of us are pursuing Bachelor of Computing Science. We are involved in anti -

oppression movement against ruling party Bangladesh Awami League. The party has been in

power fourth time in a row and consistently manipulates the elections to get all the votes to win.

My brother and I started getting involved in Bangladeshi politics on August, 2018. We took part

in the movement “We demand safe roads “. Students all over the country started this movement

with the lead of the Bangladesh Students Rights Union after two students died in road accidents.

In our city, all the students gathered downtown. We started a peaceful rally. At some point, my

brother spotted a vehicle which was hired by the police and the driver was underage. We then

pursued the vehicle and my brother asked the driver to show his driver's license as it was one of

the demands of the movement that a driver's license should be mandatory for the drivers. Then

the inspector got out of the vehicle and charged toward the crowd while one constable told us not

to move. The officer asked us to hand over our student ID cards. That day we were wearing

school uniforms which was the dress code for the protest. He kept our ID cards and told us that

we’d be on their record and if they further find us in any of the protests that go against the

government, we would have to face serious troubles.

A few days after that incident, on August 16, the supporters of local counsellor (Azad,

who is also the current councillor) of the ruling party killed one student named Miyad in our

neighbourhood and I raised my voice about this type of terrorist act on Facebook on the same

day. The next day when we went to the local fish market for shopping, we were surrounded by

members of that group. They asked us if we knew them. We said no. They asked for my cell

phone, but I told them I didn't bring it here. They told us that they were people from the local

councillor. They ordered us to kneel on our knees, but when we refused five to six people pushed
us toward the ground and they started kicking us in front of many spectators. After some time,

they took my commitment that I would return to the home and delete the post as soon as

possible.

On March 6, 2020, I took part in another movement which was organized by the

Bangladesh Students’ Right Union to prevent the upcoming visit of India’s Prime Minister

Narendra Modi because of his part in 2002 Gujrat riots. After finishing the campaign when I was

on my way a police officer who was on duty stopped me and asked me to show my photo ID

card. I handed him my driver's license and he seized it. When I asked him the reason, he didn't

explain anything rather he gave the address of the police station and the time from where to

collect it. A few days before we landed here in Canada, we took part in another protest in our

town seeking justice for a woman who was raped by some members of Bangladesh Chathra

League, the student wing of the ruling party Bangladesh Awami League. All the rapists are also

the supporter of the local counsellor. At that time again few supporters of the local counsellor

came and verbally threatened me and my brother or else they would come to our house and

assault us in front of our family. Our house is just a few meters away from that spot.

So, we left the place immediately to avoid any problems which could restrict us from moving to

Canada.

After coming to Canada, I created a poll to seek justice for Abrar Fahad a student who

was brutally killed by supporters of the ruling party and I received threats from Nokib Ashraf,

the Ex-Vice President of Combined Student’s League of Private Universities, a subgroup of

Bangladesh Chatra League. He asked for my address). After this threat, I deleted the post as I am

concerned for the safety of my family members.

 I am suffering from “Tenesmus” an anxiety & stress-related disorder. I am on my

medications, and I will get some mental relief if I can see my family members after a long time.

My brother needs to go get dental treatment which would be cheaper in our country. We had

decided to go to Bangladesh last summer, but we had to cancel the plan because we were

concerned about our security. We thought that the situation would change this year if any new

political party came to power through the election of January 07, 2024.Bangladesh Awami

League yet again held rigged election and have started their fourth consecutive tenure. Now we

have no other option but to seek political asylum.