Shahbagh rally organisers call to prevent Monday hartal
Expressing
solidarity with the Shahbagh protest, students render National Anthem
after hoisting national flag on the premises of Viqarunnisa Noon School
and College Sunday.
The
demand to try the war criminals took a new turn on Sunday as the
students across the country sang the National Anthem to express
solidarity with the Shahbagh protest.When the clock struck 10 in the morning, the air across the country filled with "Amar sonar bangla, ami tomay bhalobashi" (My beloved Bengal my Bengal of gold, I love you.).
The National Flag was also hoisted throughout all educational institutions before singing of the National Anthem.
The students, after hoisting National Flag and singing National Anthem, also stood in silence for two-minute to pay glorious tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives during the country's Liberation War in 1971 and language movement in 1952.
All this took place following a call by the organiser of the Shahbagh movement.
The Shahbagh youths made the call Friday night, hours after one of their fellow activists was killed.
Ahmed Rajib Haidar, a key blogger and online activist, was found dead, bearing several stabs, near his Palash Nagar house in the capital's Pallabi area Friday night.
Outraged, the Shahbagh protesters demanded immediate arrest of the killers and banning pro-Jamaat blog Sonarbangla that had been carrying out propaganda against Rajib over the last few days.
Meanwhile, the Shahbagh protest that began on February 5 rolled into the 13th straight day on Sunday.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life converged on Shahbagh intersection, also known as 'Projonmo Chottor' where the National Anthem was also sung and the National Flag was raised at 10:00am.
The demonstrators were seen chanting different slogans demanding capital punishment for the war criminals.
They were also singing revolutionary songs to boost up the movement.
While addressing the Shahbagh rally, Imran H Sarkar, one of the organisers of the movement, called upon all to prevent Jamaat's daylong hartal on Monday.
"We all will continue our regular activities tomorrow," he said.
Before hoisting the National Flag and singing the National Anthem, the protesters called upon all the media houses not to publish or broadcast any advertisements of the Jamaat-backed institutions.
They also urged people to wear black badges during Monday's hartal hours in memory of blogger Rajib.
Our correspondent covering the event said the protesters dedicated their Sunday's rally to Rajib.
Meanwhile, Dhaka University students and teachers including its Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique also joined the countrywide programme singing the National Anthem at 10:00am at the foot of Aparajeyo Bangla in front of Arts Faculty building.
The students of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student front of main opposition BNP, Jatiya Chhatra Samaj, student wing of Jatiya Party (Ershad), and Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of Jamaat, however did not join the programme.
The youths started the demonstration hours after an international crimes tribunal that deals with the war crimes cases sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah to life term imprisonment for his crimes against humanity committed during the country's Liberation War in 1971.
Rejecting the verdict, Bloggers and Online Activist Network initiated the protest that soon turned into a mass movement. Within a few days, it spread to other parts of the country and even in abroad.
The protesters termed Rajib a martyr and a freedom fighter of new generation and vowed to carry out his mission which was to see the war criminals hanged.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after visiting the relatives of Rajib on Saturday said Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir have no right to do politics in Bangladesh, as they believe in terrorism, not democracy.
The killing incident prompted the protesters to go back to their 24-hour movement instead of seven-hour programme which they had declared hours before the death.
The organisers decided to limit the protest to seven hours daily considering people’s sufferings, especially of the patients of two adjacent hospitals—Birdem and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College and Hospital.
The protesters on February 10 submitted a six-point charter to the Speaker, demanding death penalty for all war criminals, and revocation of the state's power to grant them amnesty.
The PM on the same day thanked the youths for raising voice against the 1971 war criminals.
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