by Mohammad Nazrul Islam
The area reverberated with the chanting of slogans before any speeches were made. When someone came on the megaphone to shout a slogan, the rest of the crowd harmonized. Saturday, hundreds of thousands of students, parents, and the general public, with processions from different areas in the capital, have gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar area to protest the killings and mass arrests over quota protests.
They were carrying and using placards where different slogans were written as seen in these pictures:
Picture courtesy of Md. Reaz Uddin.
The slogans on these placards:
≥ “Never Forgive the Crimes, Never Forget the Heroes”
≥ “I Smell the Freedom in the Wind; they’ll soon set me Free.”
≥ “I want justice for mass murder.”
≥ “Beat me, Hate me, you can never break me. Will me, thrill me, you can never kill me” one demand one condition.”
Picture Courtesy of Md. Reaz Uddin.
> “Brother, need water, water?”
> “Why did my brother die, I want an answer from the administration!’
≥ “When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty”
≥ ”Geniuses are in jail, murderers are out”.
Picture Courtesy of Md. Reaz Uddin.
“1 point 1 demand , Resignation of murderer Hasina”
>”– 1234, Hasina, Leave your throne.”
The students were chanting anti-government slogans including:
≥ “My brother’s in his coffin, why’s the killer in the open”
≥ “Justice, justice, we want justice”.
≥ “We have shed our blood, we’ll shed more blood”.
≥ “Burn, burn, light fires and burn”.
≥ ”Light fire together, against the Dictator”.
≥ “Why my brothers were killed, we want answer from Hasina”.
≥ ”Students-peoples action, direct action”.
The movement that started centering around the quota reform has now turned turbulent with slogans calling for the fall of the government.
The Anti-discrimination Student Movement announced in a press briefing that their nine-point demand has now evolved into a single demand: the resignation of the government.
“One cannot ask a killer government for justice or sit for talks with them. The time to ask forgiveness has passed. When there was still time, the government conducted block raids to arrest and torture students.”
‘Resign now’, protesters call before leaving Central Shaheed Minar.’
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?mibextid=D5vuiz&v=2375740709438219&rdid=IqmuXWAlVqiMIO5s
Monday, August 5, 2024. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and has left the country amid massive protests.