Friday, March 29, 2024

Tender voice merges with Shahbagh protests

Rally calls for 3-minute silence across country today
Tender voice mingled with the mass protests at Shahbagh Square as schoolchildren and college students joined the rally in their thousands on Monday to express their solidarity with the demand for capital punishment for the war criminals of 1971.
The seventh day of the unrelenting protest passed with a request from the demonstrators to the people across the country to observe a three-minute silence from 4:00pm today to press home their demand for death penalty to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla and all other war criminals.
Apart from the schoolchildren and college students, heroes of the 1952 language movement turned up at the square to express their solidarity with the popular protests spearheaded by youths.
The unprecedented protests have spread to other parts of the country, including Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Bandarban, Dinajpur, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Comilla, Satkhira, Khulna, Kushtia, Gazipur and Bogra.
A large number of schoolchildren left their classes and thronged the Shahbagh Square to raise their tender voice. Many came to the protest venue in small and large processions in school uniform and some with their teachers and parents.
Students of Viqarunnisa Noon School and
College, Notre Dame College, Holy Cross School and College, University Laboratory School and College, Udayan School, Wills Little Flower School, Dhanmondi Government Boys High School, Bir Shreshtha Munshi Abdur Rauf Rifles College and Dhaka Commerce College, Siddheswari Girls High School, Dania College and other institutions marched to the venue in processions.
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, Bangladesh Medical College also joined the rally.
They shouted slogans such as ‘Phanshi, phanshi, phanshi chai, Quader Mollar phanshi chai’ (Hang Quader Molla), ‘Ka’ tey Quader Molla –Tui razakar, (‘Ka’ for Quader Molla, you collaborator)’ and ‘Ga’ tey Ghulam Azam, Tui razakar’ (‘Ga’ for Ghulam Azam, you collaborator),’ ‘Apaser rai mani na, manbo na (We won’t accept the verdict of compromise),’ and ‘Apaser parinam Bangla habey Pakistan (Compromise will turn Bangladesh into Pakistan).’
Razwanul Haq, a Notre Dame College student, told New Age that he had skipped classes to join the protests. ‘I have never joined rallies or processions before. But this movement has inspired me to express my solidarity.’
Many young people like him, who joined a protest rally for the first time in their life on the day, raised their voice for death penalty to the war criminals.
Tusher Ahmed, a student of class IV at University Laboratory School and College, came to the venue with his parents wearing a headband reading ‘hang war criminals’.
‘It is the responsibility of the parents to infuse the spirit of the liberation war in their children and make them aware of the glorious sacrifice of the martyrs of the war of independence of 1971,’ said Tusher’s mother Rawshan Ara.
Language movement hero Abdul Matin joined the rally in a wheelchair to express his solidarity, accompanied by another language movement hero Mirza Mazharul Islam, actress Aupee Karim, Rabindra Sangeet singer Mita Haq, Mount Everest climbers MA Muhith and Nishat Majumder and others.
‘The struggle continues … I urge everyone to stay on here until victory is achieved,’ Matin said.
A group of protesters hung a list of organisations linked to Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir and urged all to boycott them.
The protesters carrying national flag, banner and festoons marched in small processions, screened films on the independence war, painted road stretches, staged street plays and sang patriotic songs.
Many people stood in queues to sign a long piece of white cloth extending their support to 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 has set up at the square.
A concert was held at Shahbagh at night.
Meanwhile, Lucky Akter, a frontline activist at the Shahbagh protests, who was attacked and injured by Chhatra League activists on the night of Sunday, joined the rally at around 8:00pm Monday.
A lane 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, DMP Ramna zone deputy commissioner Nurul Islam Khan said.
Young people also held similar protests at Mirpur 10, Kafrul, Sobhanbagh, Mohammadpur, Shanir Akhdra and Uttara demanding death penalty for Quader Molla.
Protests spilled over to the campuses like Chittagong University, Rajshahi University, Khulna University, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology in Gazipur and Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogra.
In Chittagong, protests continued in front of the Chittagong Press Club. In Rajshahi, protests were held at Alupatti crossing and in Barisal at the Ashwini Kumar Town Hall.
Protest rallies were held also at Rangpur, Mymensingh,
Sherpur, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Bandarban, Dinajpur, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj,
Comilla, Satkhira, Khulna and Kushtia.

Courtesy of New Age

Related News

bKash communications chief Mahfuz Sadique dies at 40

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Mahfuz Sadique, chief communications officer of mobile financial services firm bKash, passed away in Bangladesh capital Dhaka Friday morning. He was 40. Mahfuz died around 9:00am while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the capital, bKash said in a statement. Mahfuz, who began his career as a journalist at New Age, ... Read more

Prices for potatoes increase by 229% from the previous year

Prices for potatoes varied from Tk16 to Tk22 per kg at this time last year. News Desk : dhakamirror.com Despite the presence of both new and old potatoes in the market, potato prices have soared by 229% compared to late December last year. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the selling price for ... Read more

LGED engineer dead, UNO among 3 injured in Panchagarh car crash

News Desk : dhakamirror.com An engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) was killed and three other government officials were injured when the vehicle of a UNO hit a roadside tree in Panchagarh Sadar upazila early today. The deceased was identified as Abu Sayed, 33, upazila engineer of LGED from Pirganj upazila of Thakurgaon. ... Read more

UNHCR calls for rescue of Rohingyas stranded in Andaman Sea

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has made an urgent appeal to all countries in the region, particularly those in the area surrounding the Andaman Sea, to swiftly deploy their full search and rescue capacities in response to reported vessels in distress with hundreds of Rohingya at risk of perishing. ... Read more

Over 200 RMG workers injured in Comilla while evacuating factory during earthquake

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Over two hundred garment workers in Cumilla’s Chauddagram have been injured while trying to evacuate the factory building of Amir Shirt Garment Limited during today’s earthquake. A 5.5 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 10km jolted Dhaka, and parts of the country at 9:35am today (2 December). The epicentre of the ... Read more

Daughter hacked father to death in Chattogram

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A father was hacked to death by his own daughter during an altercation over a trivial matter at Lohagara upazila in Chattogram on Friday (1 December). The deceased was identified as Abdur Rahman, 50, of Putibila Sarai village under the upazila. Police have detained the daughter, Humaira Begum, 23, soon after ... Read more

HSC results: Dhaka has most GPA-5 achievers, while Barishal has highest pass rate

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Dhaka had the highest number of GPA-5 recipients in the HSC exams, while Barishal Education Board had the highest pass rate among nine educational boards. Education Minister Dipu Moni announced today that the overall pass rate in the nine general boards is 75.90 percent. In terms of pass rates, Barishal ranked ... Read more

PSC postpones 45th BCS written tests

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) has decided to postpone the written tests for the 45th Bangladesh Civil Service examination, which was scheduled to be held on 27 November. The announcement came through a notification signed by Ananda Kumar Biswas, the exam controller of PSC, issued on Friday. PSC held a ... Read more

After stabbing younger sister to death woman ‘kills herself’ in Hazaribagh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A woman reportedly killed herself after stabbing her younger sister to death in the capital’s Hazaribagh area today. Police said the incident took place in the Kalunagar area at around 12am on Monday (13 November). The deceased have been identified as Jasmine Akhtar, 44, and her younger sister Nasreen Akhtar, 30. ... Read more

Oman stops issuing new visas to citizens of Bangladesh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Sultanate of Oman has suspended the issuance of visas across all categories for Bangladeshi nationals, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said on Tuesday. The decision was effective from Tuesday, reported Oman-based English newspaper the Times of Oman referring to the Royal Oman Police. The report said that the ROP confirmed ... Read more

Dhaka girl Nupur takes over as chairman of Unilever for a day

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Seventeen-year-old Nupur from Dhaka, had the opportunity to take over Unilever’s chairman position for one day on Thursday. There, she symbolically carried out the roles and responsibilities of Zaved Akhtar, the chairman and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, said a press release. Nupur being an active youth club member, works for ... Read more

Hospitals must follow guidelines, orders HC

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The High Court on Thursday asked the government to take steps to make it compulsory to follow the relevant guidelines for the prevention of performing unnecessary caesarean section surgery at government and private hospitals and clinics. The court has also directed the government to widely circulate the guidelines within six months. ... Read more

Woman delivers birth to five babies at DMCH

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A woman has given birth to five premature babies. The quintuplets were born at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) at 10am on Thursday to Mansura Begum, 22, the wife of CNG driver Md Mamun from Bandardia village in Shibpur upazila of Narsingdi district. One of the newborns, however, died shortly ... Read more

Tk8.44 cr fine imposed to Kazi Farms, 3.44 crore to Suguna Food

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Bangladesh Competition Commission has fined Kazi Farms Group and Saguna Food and Feeds on charges of market manipulation causing abnormal rise in broiler chicken prices. BCC officials said that the companies must deposit the fine amount to the BCC within 10 working days. If they fail to deposit the fine ... Read more

Heritage volunteers visit national museum

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The heritage volunteers participating in UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Programme 2023 visited national museum in Dhaka on Sunday. The ten-day workshop programme organised by Nagar Upakhyan-Perceive started on October 1, said a press release. The Heritage volunteers’ team visited national museum which is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list on ... Read more

Fare for Bangladesh-India trains to increase from November 10

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Ticket prices of three inter-country trains on Bangladesh-India routes are going to be hiked from November 10. The fares are going to increase due to high exchange rate of US dollar and rising travel tax, according to the Bangladesh Railway officials. The trains are – Maitree Express on Dhaka-Kolkata, Bandhan Express ... Read more

Man, nephew killed by lightning

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A man and his nephew were struck by lightning in Satarbari village of Longair union under Gafargaon upazila of Mymensingh yesterday. The deceased were identified as Sohel Mondol, 40, a trader of pharmaceutical drugs, and his nephew Razib Mondol, 35 a rice trader in the village. Quoting locals, Raju Ahmed, officer-in-charge ... Read more

TV sales decline despite World Cup: Is streaming to blame?

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 captures the attention of sports enthusiasts across the world and an intriguing trend is emerging in Bangladesh’s television market. While events of this magnitude have traditionally led to an increase in TV sales, recent figures from September show a 30% decline compared to the same ... Read more

Heritage volunteers visit Paharpur archaeological museum

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The heritage volunteers participating in UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Programme 2023 visited Paharpur archaeological museum in Naogaon on Friday. The ten-day workshop programme organised by Nagar Upakhyan-Perceive started on October 1, said a press release. The Heritage volunteers’ team visited Paharpur archaeological museum which is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative ... Read more

Child among three dead as mud walls collapsed in rain in Gazipur

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Three people including an eight-year-old child died in separate incidents of mud walls collapsing during heavy rain in Sadar and Kaliakoir upazilas of Gazipur. The deceased are Faridul Islam, 8, son of Matiur Rahmon of Konabari Baimile under Sadar upazila, and Imarat Hossain, 65, and his wife Achia Begum, 56, of ... Read more