‘Govt has no moral right to stay in power’

The government has lost its moral right to stay in power due to the killing through indiscriminate shooting at students and the people, protesting artistes and cultural activists said Tuesday.

They demanded an immediate trial of the killings. At the same time, they announced that their movement will continue until this government resigns.

The demands were made from a rally and march under the title of ‘Chhatra-janatake hatyar protibaade protibaadi gaaner michil’ centering the quota reform movement of the students.

The program was held under the banner of ‘Protesting socio-cultural organisations’.

An alliance of 31 organisations, including Udichi, organised a rally in front of GPA at Shaheed Noor Hossain square at 3:00 pm Tuesday.

As a symbol of protest, the poets, artistes and cultural activists participated in the rally wearing red clothes and red ribbons on their heads or red scarves around their necks.

They were holding placards with protest slogans, national flags and red flags, including the photos of Abu Sayeed, who was shot to death during the quota reform movement.

There were also handwritten posters and caricatures, prints and hand-painted festoons.

The protesting artistes and cultural activists chanted slogans demanding the trial of the killers, the resignation of the government, the release of all including the detained student leaders, and an end to prosecutions and harassment.

They marched towards Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka singing protest songs from there around 3:30 pm, according to the pre-announced programme. They were supposed to gather there. But they could not move ahead as the police stopped them on Bangabandhu Avenue.

At one stage, many of the artistes and cultural activists sat on the road as singing and chanting of slogans continued on the mic.

At this time, the road from the roundabout to Sadarghat was closed. Nearby shops were also closed. The police, however, did not use force on them.

Artistes from Udichi including singers Sayan, Krishnakali, Amirun Nuzhat, Shaon and Mir Sakhawat sang one after the other rousing songs including ‘Amar protibaader bhasha’, ‘Purbo digonte surjo utheche’, ‘Ma go bhabna keo’, ‘Durgamgiri’.

Former general secretary of Udichi Jamshed Anwar Tapan moderated the protest event. Poet Hasan Fakhri and Deepak Suman recited poems.

Udichi general secretary Amit Ranjan Dey said, “We have come to lodge protests peacefully about the killing of students. It is our democratic right but we have been barred. This proved once again that there is no such thing as democracy in the country.”

Mentioning that the government has been brutally suppressing the rightful movement of peace-loving students, Amit said, they (the protestors) were brutally killed by unleashing the police. Through this the government has lost its moral right to remain in power.

He further said this movement has now turned into a movement to establish democracy and justice for the killing of innocent people.

Supporting the demands of the students, they announced that they would continue the movement until the government’s resignation.

Bibartan Sanskritik Kendra general secretary Mufizur Rahman, Charan Sanskritik Kendra general secretary Zakir Hossain, representative writer of Samaj Chinta Forum Kamal Hossain, Ganasanskrit Front representative writer Zakir Hossain, and Charan Shilpi Sanstha’s Sushmita Roy also spoke at the event.

The speakers said that hearts of all the conscientious people of the country are bleeding seeing the invaluable lives that have been taken away in the name of suppressing the students’ movement. It is not possible to bring back a life in exchange for any installation or any building. Many mothers’ have lost their children. The coordinators of the quota reform movement are being forced to give statements in custody. Thousands of people are being arrested and harassed. These must be stopped.

They also said that looting and corruption have become rampant in the country these days. Looters are laundering billions of taka abroad under the aegis of the government. Nothing is being done to them. But those who are protesting this have been facing torture.

In order to overcome this situation, he called for a united movement to topple the government.

After lodging their protests on the road for about three hours, the artistes and cultural activists around 6:00 pm announced another protest rally in front of the National Press Club at 3:00 pm Friday.

Later, they sang the song ‘Muktir mondir sopan tole, koto pran holo bolidan’ and ended the march at Purana Paltan intersection.