Biography:
Nurul Haque Nur, natively known as VP Nur was born in 1991 into a modest middle-class family in Char Biswas Union, Galachipa Upazila, Patuakhali District. His father, Idris Howlader, was a businessman and a Union Parishad member, while his mother, Nilufa Begum, was a homemaker. Nur is the second of five siblings. Tragically, his mother passed away in 1996, when he was just five years old.
Activism
Nurul Haque Nur is a Bangladeshi activist, politician, and currently the 1st President of the Gono Odhikar Parishad political party. He came to prominence in 2018 as a joint-convener of Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Songrokkhon Parishad, which led the Quota Reform Movement 2018. In 2019, he was elected as the vice president of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU). He is also the convener of the Chatro, Jubo and Probashi Odhikar Parishad.
During the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement Nur was arrested by police on 20 July on charges of involvement in the 18 July arson attack on Setu Bhaban despite being completely uninvolved in the movement. The arrest was widely viewed as politically motivated. Despite the lack of any concrete evidence, the court denied him bail and ordered him sent to jail after a 5 day remand. According to his wife, who spoke to the media, Nur was in good health prior to his arrest. Upon release from remand on 26 July, however, it was apparent that Nur had been severely tortured and beaten, as he appeared in significant pain and unable to stand without assistance.
Bangladeshi law mandates that an arrested person must be presented in court within 24 hours. If this does not happen, it is deemed an enforced disappearance. In Nur’s situation, he was unaccounted for for 40 hours before being brought to court, according to his wife, which raises questions about the legality of his detention. His wife also said that law enforcers torture Nur in remand.
