Arif Sohel

Arif Sohel is a human rights defender, a student of the International Relations Department of Jahangirnagar University, and one of the key National Coordinators of the Students Against Discrimination Movement. The Students Against Discrimination Movement is a student led protest demanding reform of the quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh which started after the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruling in June 2024 revived a 30% quota for descendants of freedom fighters. A total 56 percent of first and second class government jobs in Bangladesh entailed quotas. 30 percent of the total reserved for the descendants of ‘freedom fighters’. This quota has been widely criticised as a discriminatory system to access jobs that is allegedly used politically.

Arif was abducted by eight to ten individuals claiming to be from the Detective Branch (DB) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police on 28 July 2024. A case was filed on July 18, 2024, following an incident involving the alleged vandalism and arson of Setu Bhaban, a government establishment, in Banani, Dhaka.