Sunrise at Shahbagh

The sunrise at Shahbagh was marked by fresh protests, this time asking for punishment for the killers of its first martyr, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider.

It was the 12th day of protest without a pause at Shahbagh. The protestors were pointing fingers at Jamaat-e-Islami, blaming its supporters for the murder of Rajib who had been an active participant in the protest from the very first day.

The organisers at Shahbagh had limited the daily protests to seven hours from Friday but Rajib’s murder and the call for a countrywide shutdown by the Jamaat-e-Islami have seemingly fired up the protesters.


Late on Friday, it was decided to continue the protests round-the-clock.

There were appeals to resist the proposed nationwide Jamaat shutdown on Monday.

Rajib’s body was found at Dhaka’s Pallabi area around 9:00pm. His throat was slashed and a scarf was wrapped round it. Family, friends and relatives blamed the Jamaat for the killing.

Protestors were wearing black badges at Shahbagh on Saturday. A minute’s silence was observed in memory of Rajib Haider followed by the usual singing of the national anthem.

An announcement from the ‘Ganajagaran Mancha’, the centrestage of the protests, said that Rajib’s body would be brought to Shahbagh in the afternoon.
Immediately, the air was filled with loud slogans demanding justice for the killing.

Protestors promised not to return home unless Rajib’s murder is avenged. The songs of protest continued.

bdnews24.com correspondents found much more people at Shahbagh on Saturday, possibly to demonstrate solidarity with the first martyr of the ongoing protests.

A Freedom Fighter Jogesh Chandra Das had arrived from Brahmanbaria. He spoke of his friend Shahjahan at Liberation War in agony before death.

“He used to tell me, please put one more bullet through my head to ease my pain… But as I couldn’t… neither could I save him,” he said.

“Shahjahan told me before his death, keep my last promise. Go and tell my mother not to cry for me… because his son had died for the country.”

It was Jogesh who had buried Shahjahan after death.

“I went after three months of freedom… I found that Shahjahan’s mother was killed by the Razakars and the Pakistanis.”

“I often thought after that… Who would protect this freedom? Today I think, this generation will,” said Jogesh.