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.
Published : 23 Mar 2013, 09:37 AM
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.
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.