Protests at Shahbagh seeking death penalty for all who
have committed crimes against humanity in 1971 passed the sixth consecutive day
on Sunday with national cricketers expressing solidarity.
Protests spilled over to Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal,
Rangpur, Mymansingh, Sherpur, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria,
Bandarban, Dinajpur, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Comilla, Satkhira, Khulna,
Kushtia, Gazipur and Bogra.
The protesters at Shahbagh held a symbolic execution of
war criminals in the
afternoon as people from all walks of life continued
streaming into the place.
A five-member delegation, led by blogger Imran H Sarkar,
submitted a memorandum to the speaker, Abdul Hamid, at 3:30pm to push for their
demands.
The demands include an amendment to the International
Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973, a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra
Shibir, and the closing all their financial and other establishments linked to
Jamaat and Shibir such as Islami Bank, Ibn Sina Hospital, and Focus and Retina
coaching centres.
The other demand is trial of political parties and
organisations that helped war criminals.
The protests on the day brought out a large torch procession
after dusk with people taking a fresh vow not to leave the streets until all
war criminals, including Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Abdul Quader
Molla, were sentenced to death.
People continued expressing solidarity with the protests
with artistes shouting slogans such as ‘Phanshi, phanshi, phanshi chai, Quader
Mollar phanshi chai’ (Hang Quader Molla), ‘Ka te Quader Molla, tui razakar, (Ka
for Quader Molla, you are a collaborator)’ and ‘Ga te Ghulam Azam, tui razakar’
(Ga for Ghulam Azam, you are a collaborator),’ ‘Apaser Ray mani na, manbo na
(We will not accept the verdict of compromise),’ and ‘Apaser parinam Bangla
habe Pakistan (Such a compromise will turn Bangladesh into Pakistan).’
The protests spilling over to other places across the
country also continued in a similar fashion.
The protesters sported the national flag, marched in
small processions carrying banners and festoons, screened films on the
independence war, painted road stretches, staged street plays and sang
patriotic songs.
The foreign minister, Dipu Moni, the Bangladesh Cricket
Board president, Nazmul Hasan Papon, Bangladesh’s cricket captain Mushfiqur
Rahim, cricketers Mohammed Ashraful, Abdur Razzaq, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nasir
Hossain, Elias Sunny, Shohag Gazi, Anamul Haque Bijoy and Mominul Haque, the
chief selector, Akram Khan, and selector Habibul Bashar, and the Bangladesh
Premier League team Duronto Rajhsahi expressed solidarity with the protests
where they were given a standing ovation.
Muktijhuddho Prajanma Command held a symbolic execution
of Quader Molla while another group set up symbolic scaffold near Pubali Bank.
Organisers said collaborators would later be hanged there in effigy. The
dramatics department of Dhaka University also set up a symbolic scaffold.
On Sunday, students of schools, colleges and universities
poured in for the protests in their thousands.
Students of Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University,
Jagannath University, Dhaka Medical College, Eden Girls’ College, Dhaka City
College, Ideal College, East West University, University of Liberal Arts,
Viqarunnesa Noon School and College, Notre Dame College, Holy Cross School and
College and other educational institutions flocked to the place in small processions,
shouting slogans all day long.
A minor boy named Apurba recited the historic March 7
address mimicking the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
People from neighbouring districts of Naryanganj,
Munshiganj, Gazipur and Comilla and the outlying Barisal also joined the
protests at Shahbagh.
The protesters said that anyone trying to compromise with
the forces that worked against Bangladesh during the independence war would be
branded as ‘neo-collaborators’ and rejected.
Many people stood in queues to sign on a long piece of
white cloth extending their support for the protests. A group of young
journalists also began a mass signature campaign.
The Dhaka University Film Society screened several films
on the war of independence on a big screen the organisation set up in the
place.
A concert was held at Shahbagh at night.
Protesters, meanwhile, alleged that some people were
threatening the life of Lucky Akhter. Lucky told New Age that she and the
family were receiving many such calls a day.
A lane of the road between BIRDEM Hospital and Matsya
Bhaban was opened to traffic in the morning but as the day rolled on, people
streaming in blocked it again after 3:00pm, the Ramna police deputy
commissioner, Nurul Islam Khan, said.
Young people also held similar protests at Mirpur Circle
10, Kafrul, Sobhanbagh and Uttara demanding death penalty for Quader Molla.
In Chittagong, protests were held in front of the
Chittagong Press Club. In Rajshahi, protests were held in Tukitaki Square and
in Barisal in the Ashwini Kumar Town Hall.
People held a rally at the Rangpur Town Hall. In
Mymansingh, a rally was held in Feroz-Jahangir Square. In Sherpur, rallies were
held in the thana crossing. In Kishoreganj, protests began in the Rangmahal
area.
People of Sylhet, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Bandarban,
Dinajpur, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj held similar protests near shaheed minars.
Protests were also held at the Town Hall in Comilla, in
Razzak Park in Satkhira, in the Shibbari crossing in Khulna and Char-Rasta
crossing in Kushtia.
Students of Dhaka University of Engineering and
Technology in Gazipur and Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogra also
held protests on campuses. (Read the original story)