United News of Bangladesh

The streets of Shahbagh reverberated with slogans on Tuesday as students from 20 different colleges in Dhaka staged a dawn-to-dusk blockade, demanding justice for rape victims and stringent punishment for perpetrators. Under the slogan "Raise Your Voice Again, Dig the Rapists’ Graves," the protest took place in front of the National Museum, denouncing the recent rape of an eight-year-old girl in Magura and the continuing violence against women across the country. Students from institutions like Notre Dame College, Dhaka College, Government Science College, Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Bir Shreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Public College, Bir Shreshtha Noor Mohammad Public College, Dhaka City College, Holy Cross College, Wills Little Flower School and College, Dhaka Residential Model College, and Adamjee Cantonment College actively participated in the demonstration. The protesters presented a six-point demand, the key focus being the introduction of capital punishment for rapists and public execution to set a strong precedent. Crime surges in Bagerhat; 23 killed, 21 raped in seven months They also urged the government to establish dedicated tribunals to expedite rape cases. While the existing law allows 90 days for a verdict, the students demanded the trial process be completed within 30 days through a special tribunal. Further, the demonstrators called for immediate action within 24 hours of a reported rape incident.

A group of students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) have vandalised a mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and defaced graffiti of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The student first gathered in front of the Institute of Comparative Literature and Culture around 11:15pm on Wednesday with slogans ‘Mujibad, Muradbad, Awami League er Astana Benge dao Gurie dao "Down with Mujibism, Destroy the Awami League's stronghold." Later, they removed the nameplate of Sheikh Hasina Hall calling her a murderer. Subsequently, the students also went to the institute and vandalised Sheikh Mujib's murals and erased graffiti of Sheik Hasina from the wall of Al-Beruni Hall. During the protest, Yahya Jisan, a JU student and convenor of Jahangirnagar Reform Movement, said fascist Sheikh Hasina has been living in India and sending messages to the people that she will return. “She has conspired against the country while residing in India. But we will not accept this conspiracy. We demand that Sheikh Hasina be brought back to the country immediately and tried for genocide. We also call for the issuance of a notification banning the Awami League within the next week,” he said. Sheikh Mujib’s mural, AL office vandalised in Chuadanga Nazmul Hasan, a student from the Department of Anthropology, said they do not want to preserve the memory of Mujib, who has been used by Sheikh Hasina to establish her fascist rule. “Through this act, we want to send a message that anyone who becomes a fascist like Hasina will face the same fate," he said. Mizanur Rahman, joint convenor of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's university unit, said Hasina has used these symbols to strip the people of Bangladesh of their rights for long. “We are permanently erasing these symbols. Even after fleeing the country, she is conspiring to destabilise it (country). We demand that the government bring her back to the country and ensure her public trial as soon as possible,” he added.