Shoes hurled at Razakar, Pakistani army caricatures in symbolic savar protest

Participants have described the act as a necessary vent for decades of unresolved grievances

A group of students has marked Independence Day with a rare event in Savar, inviting the public to express their hatred for 1971 war criminals and the Pakistani military by hurling shoes at their caricatures.

The symbolic protest, held outside the National Memorial premises, featured a banner fastened to a roadside bus depicting the faces of those involved in the 1971 genocide, including high-ranking Pakistani army officials.

As the afternoon progressed, a steady stream of rickshaw pullers, pedestrians, and visitors joined the students, taking turns to kick or throw shoes at the images.

Participants described the act as a necessary vent for decades of unresolved grievances.

“From Yahya Khan to Munir [the current Pakistani army chief], every general has followed the same path,” said one organiser.

“They have shielded the killers of 1971, blocked trials, and ensured impunity. This isn’t just about individual moral failure, it is the state policy of the Pakistani military institution,” he added.

The protesters also took aim at Razakars, who collaborated with the Pakistan army. Speakers at the event highlighted that the successors of those who murdered Bangladeshis in 1971 continue to distort history.

“The issue of Jamaat-e-Islami cannot be ignored here. Their successors still argue over the death toll of the genocide and create smoke screens around our history,” a participant remarked.

“This isn't a political disagreement, it is a continuation of a crime.”

Another supporter of the event emphasised that the demonstration was intended to be more than a personal insult to specific figures.

“This shoe-hurling programme is not just to humiliate two or three faces. It is against the entire Pakistani structure that has spent over fifty years disregarding the blood of our martyrs,” he said.