People from all walks of life indoors, at work and on the streets across the country stood in a silence for three minutes as the clock struck four on Tuesday afternoon joining the Shahbagh protests demanding death penalty for all war criminals. People wherever they were observed silence for the three minutes at the call of protesters at Shahbagh. The protesters also brought out a procession holding torches to push for the demand.
Ministers, secretaries, lawmakers, government and non-government officials, and ordinary people from one end to the other of the country came out on the streets passing by their respective workplaces to express solidarity with the Shahbagh protest demand.
Witnesses said that everything had come to a standstill, with even all transports stopping short on the road or the three minutes. People lined up along road stretches and stopped their day’s business for the duration.
The call for the silence even inspired some patients in BIRDEM and BSMMU hospitals to get on their feet in silence in corridors and on balconies. Some who could not stand up because of illness did so with the help nurses and attendants.
The protests at Shahbagh, spearheaded by the youths, passed the eight consecutive day on Tuesday.
The deputy speaker, Swakat Ali, the foreign minister, Dipu Moni, the education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, the information minister, Hasanul Haque Inu, the Communist Party of Bangladesh president, Mujahidul Islam Selim, along with ranking leaders of student organisations observed the silence in the Shahbagh crossing.
Protesters in their thousands raised their hand on a countdown and kept silent for the three minutes. They broke the silence shouting ‘Jay Bangla, Jay Bangla.’
Protesters then filled the air at Shahbagh with slogans such as ‘Phansi, phansi, phansi chai, Quader Mollar phansi chai’ (hang Quader Molla), ‘Ka te Quader Molla, tui razakar, (Ka for Quader Molla, you are a collaborator)’ ‘Ga te Ghulam Azam, tui razakar’ (Ga for Ghulam Azam, you are a collaborator).’
Slogans such as ‘Janaganer dabi, Quader Mollar phansi (People want death penalty for Quader Molla), ‘Jamaat-e-Islami made in Pakistan,’ ‘Tomar amar thikana, Padma, Meghna, Jamuna’, (Our address is Padma, Meghna and Jamuna), ‘Tumi ke, ami ke, Bangali, Bangali’ were also shouted by the protesters.
In the evening, students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology brought out a huge torch procession.
More than 50 lawmakers from the ruling Awami League-led alliance observed silence on the south plaza of the national assembly complex.
Leaders and activists of the Awami League-led alliance, observed the silence at the Central Shaheed Minaar, expressing solidarity with the protests.
The Communist Party and the Socialist Party of Bangladesh stood in silence in front of the National Press Club. Parbatya Chhatragram Jana Sanghati Samiti expressed their solidarity with protesters keeping silent in front of Ramna Park.
Apparel workers across the country also observed the silence, BGMEA officials said.
Cricketers playing the Bangladesh Premier League also observed the silence at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Reports reaching from outside the capital said the silence was observed with similar fervour in all the places, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Bandarban, Dinajpur, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Comilla, Satkhira, Khulna, Kushtia, Gazipur and Bogra.
Students and teachers of colleges and universities such as the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Jahangirnagar University, Chittagong University, Rajshahi University, Khulna University, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology in Gazipur, Dhaka Medical College and Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogra, observed the programme.
In Chittagong, people observed the silence in front of Chittagong Press Club, in Sylhet, at the Central Shaheed Minar, in Rajshahi, in Alupatti Square, in Barisal in the Ashwini Kumar Town Hall, in Rangpur, in the Town Hall.
The programme was also observed in Feroz-Jahangir Square in Mymansingh, in the thana crossing in Sherpur, at Rangmahal in Kishoreganj. People of Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Bandarban, Dinajpur, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj held silence near shaheed minars.
Expatriate Bangladeshis went on demonstrations February 9 near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in the United States, expressing solidarity with the Shahbagh protests.
Courtesy of New Age
