Shahbagh spirit still alive, say Mancha leaders

Leaders of the now 47-day-old Shahbagh protests, dubbed Bangla Spring by some international outlets, have been talking about their experience and how they plan to go about their agenda.

Ten key leaders and policymakers of the campaign and authors of its many statements, read out by their spokesperson, have gathered in the bdnews24.com conference room for a discussion moderated by the news portal’s Chief Editor Toufique Imrose Khalidi.

The discussion kicked off with a question to Nahid Sultana about where the campaign stood after almost a month and a half.

“In terms of spirit I am exactly where I was on Feb 5,” said the professional lawyer who likes to call herself a social activist rather an online activist.

Bloggers and online activists were among the first to take to the Shahbagh intersection, a popular site of civic demonstration, to protest against Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla’s verdict on Feb 5 by the war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh.

Known as ‘Butcher Quader’, Molla was given a life sentence, which in effect means twenty odd years of imprisonment and sometimes even less.

Among the first protesters to take a stand at Shahbagh from the very beginning, she said, “Every single person still harbours that same spirit. Perhaps the flood of people has become a trickle. But the spirit has not died. Not at all.”

The activists have also been answering questions raised by their critics.

Arif Jebtik, another senior spokesperson who appears on TV shows, countered a prevailing notion that the Shahbagh vigil, that attracted tens of thousands if not more, was a government sponsored affair. “We took to the streets on Feb 5. But Jamaat-e-Islami had another rally on the Feb 4. The police were there to make sure nothing happened.”

He explained that the law enforcers were only there to protect a peaceful demonstration. “It is their duty.”

One of the most popular bloggers with about 30,000 Facebook followers, Jebtik said that the campaigners demanding maximum penalty for convicted war criminals was not at all an attempt to subvert the normal course of justice. “The court is neutral and it will remain so.”

But we are the victims demanding justice for the murder of brothers and rape of sisters. “We will naturally seek the maximum penalty and rightfully so.”

The roundtable is being broadcast live on private Ekattor Television. The live streaming can also be seen at bangla.bdnews24.com.

The protest started by the youngsters and bloggers at Shahbagh has already turned into a mass uprising, spreading across the country and eventually among the expatriate Bangladeshis.

Amid the heat of Shahbagh protests this month, the government has already made changes to the ICT laws providing equal scope for both the prosecution and the defence to appeal against a verdict and also for trying organisations for crimes against humanity.

But the protesters are still on the streets and have renewed their pledge to continue with the movement until the last war criminal is executed.