The one who pledged to keep fighting

In April this year, Dhaka University student Mohiuddin Roni started a hunger strike for his six-point demand, including the modernisation of the university's medical centre, after not being satisfied with its facilities.

Following his 77-hour strike, the university authorities developed washroom facilities, increased medicinal amenities, set up an information desk at the entrance and took initiatives to meet his other demands.

After just three months, Roni, a senior-year student majoring in theatre and performance, made headlines again.

This time, he took to the streets with a six-point demand for ending mismanagement and corruption in the country's railway system, after he failed to book Dhaka-Rajshahi train tickets online on June 13, 2022.

They are trying to harass me in different ways. They tried to attack me behind my back. I only have one thing to say to these anonymous attackers. If you have the courage, come and face me. I will not compromise with the demands.

He alleged that the ticket money was deducted from his bKash account, but he did not get a seat on the train nor was he given any receipt.

He filed a complaint with the authorities concerned the next day. But to his dismay, the complaint was left pending for a month.

This prompted him to start a protest on his own at Kamalapur Railway Station on July 7. The perk of the protest was that he went solo.

After a while, students from different parts of the country joined him separately in the cause.

On July 20, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) fined online ticketing platform Shohoz for its negligence in selling tickets.

The High Court on the same day asked Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik and ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan to inquire about the steps that have been taken on the issue.

Roni has other work to his name that makes him stand out.

He has been working in various voluntary organisations -- Rover Scout, National Children Task Force, and Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence.

He is currently working as the coordinator of the Dhaka district unit of "Youth Ending Hunger" and is an active member of youth organisation BD Clean, which works to remove plastic waste in different cities of the country and raise awareness.

He has also developed "Torchlight Foundation" and Facebook-based platform "Artists for Change", which has more than 10,000 members. Through this platform, Roni has done various kinds of social work, and focused on positive and extraordinary ideas.

One such work is his recently launched "Green Happy Birthday Campaign", to create awareness about climate change. He also organised National Barowari Debate Competition to highlight the importance of regional languages, and another campaign named "Makeup Our Power", focused on women empowerment.

His works have also received due recognition. "Makeup Our Power" was selected as one of the best ideas in the "Top Ten Project Ideas" by the British Council during the pandemic.

"Roni has always been vocal against different irregularities and engaged himself with various forms of social work," Asif Khan, a senior-year student of Arabic, told The Daily Star.

Roni, however, has pledged not to stop his protest after Shohoz's fine, until his other demands are met. He has also claimed to have been threatened to stop the protest by a quarter at the railway station.

Last Thursday, Roni and his supporters were allegedly physically harassed by some people, who forced them to leave the railway station, where they had been protesting for more than two weeks.

Later, he took position at Shahbagh intersection and continued his movement.

On Saturday, when he went to Kamalapur again, he was pelted with eggs by an unidentified person.

However, it did not daunt his spirit. "They are trying to harass me in different ways. They tried to attack me behind my back. I only have one thing to say to these anonymous attackers. If you have the courage, come and face me. I will not compromise with the demands," he told these correspondents.