BANGLADESH NEWS
As the Shahbagh movement enters its 49th day today, its organisers focus
on building up new networks and strengthening the old ones so as to
make the protests more democratic and inclusive.
They say they are already organising people at the grassroots level, and will soon come up with a detailed plan to this end.
The nonstop, peaceful mass movement began on February 5 in the capital’s Shahbagh intersection, demanding capital punishment to all war criminals. On February 21, organisers announced a six-point demand, including initiating the legal process to bring war crimes charges against the Jamaat-e-Islami by March 26.
At the February grand rally, the protesters also decided to hold rallies in different parts of the capital and other divisional cities to garner public support in favour of their demands.
About the demand for banning Jamaat, Maruf Rosul, a key organiser of the movement, said: “Before a party can be banned, its registration with the Election Commission has to be cancelled. A case filed in 2009 to cancel the Jamaat’s registration has recently been revived,”
According to him, the Jamaat, which actively opposed the country’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971, can be banned through any one of three ways: trial under the amended war crimes law, an executive order of the government or scrapping its registration.
“The third option is very complicated and time-consuming, although that is the path the government has chosen. We want to ask the government, ‘why not the first two options?’” Maruf
Imran H Sarker, spokesperson for the Gonojagoron Mancha, agrees. “We hope the government will take appropriate steps and support the mass demand.”
The protesters will be forced to announce tougher programmes if the government fails to take effective steps. At the same time, organisers are concentrating on expanding the movement. In the next phase, they will continue to spread the movement to different parts of the country, he adds.
So far, the organisers have failed to hold their pre-announced programmes in divisional cities. They even had to cancel their Chittagong rally on March 13 in the face of the radical Islamist group Hefazate Islam’s threat to resist the rally.
“We are determined to hold our first rally in Chittagong. But while we make preparations for that, we are reaching out to different stakeholders, including labour organisations, media houses, cultural and political groups at the same time,” says Imran.
Imran, convener of the Blogger and Online Activist Network, which initiated the Shahbagh movement, adds that the Shahbagh activists also want to form a cultural front of the movement. To this end, a stage has already been set up at the Shahbagh intersection, now also known as Projonmo Chattar.
“Since our movement is about a political issue, we need to maintain our presence on the streets. But because it is also an ideological issue, we need to turn it into a cultural movement.”
On a similar note, Badiuzzaman Shohag, president of Bangladesh Chhatra League, argues that greater attention needs to be given to the cultural front of the struggle.
“We will centre our programmes around different national days at various venues to inspire the people towards the cause,” he said.
SM Shuvo, president of Chhatra Union, maintains that the main focus is to successfully hold rallies in all seven divisions of the country.
“We are also continuing dialogues with cultural and political organisations, and we are initiating the process of bringing all the pro-liberation forces to the streets again,” he said.
Different political groups have already begun the process of mobilising their grassroots activists and supporters, said Bappaditya Basu, president of Bangladesh Chhatra Moitree.
Several teams of the Gonojagoron Mancha will also begin mobilising people in different districts soon, he said, adding that it was time to shift the focus of the movement from mass awareness to mass resistance.
According to Probir Shaha, president of Chhatra Federation, the movement will enter a new phase after the March 26 ultimatum.
The process of amending the International Crimes Tribunal Act and the revival of a case to cancel the Jamaat’s registration are the outcome of popular pressure, he said, adding that their next course of action would depend on how the government responded to their demands.
Asked if the organisers have managed to include diverse interest groups and individuals within the decision-making process, Imran said: “In the beginning we were a little sceptical about letting just about anyone in, for fear of infiltration by Jamaat-Shibir. So we included established organisations and groups with a clear pro-liberation stance in the decision-making process.”
But now the protesters are making efforts to include the opinions and concerns of a wider range of groups.
The organisers say they will hold meetings and dialogues with activists and supporters in different parts of the country to ensure that their opinions are reflected in the Gonojagoron Mancha programmes.
However, it is difficult, logistically and otherwise, at the moment to hold meetings on a large scale, they said, adding that they were trying to find a way to facilitate democratic participation of the protesters.
They say they are already organising people at the grassroots level, and will soon come up with a detailed plan to this end.
The nonstop, peaceful mass movement began on February 5 in the capital’s Shahbagh intersection, demanding capital punishment to all war criminals. On February 21, organisers announced a six-point demand, including initiating the legal process to bring war crimes charges against the Jamaat-e-Islami by March 26.
At the February grand rally, the protesters also decided to hold rallies in different parts of the capital and other divisional cities to garner public support in favour of their demands.
About the demand for banning Jamaat, Maruf Rosul, a key organiser of the movement, said: “Before a party can be banned, its registration with the Election Commission has to be cancelled. A case filed in 2009 to cancel the Jamaat’s registration has recently been revived,”
According to him, the Jamaat, which actively opposed the country’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971, can be banned through any one of three ways: trial under the amended war crimes law, an executive order of the government or scrapping its registration.
“The third option is very complicated and time-consuming, although that is the path the government has chosen. We want to ask the government, ‘why not the first two options?’” Maruf
Imran H Sarker, spokesperson for the Gonojagoron Mancha, agrees. “We hope the government will take appropriate steps and support the mass demand.”
The protesters will be forced to announce tougher programmes if the government fails to take effective steps. At the same time, organisers are concentrating on expanding the movement. In the next phase, they will continue to spread the movement to different parts of the country, he adds.
So far, the organisers have failed to hold their pre-announced programmes in divisional cities. They even had to cancel their Chittagong rally on March 13 in the face of the radical Islamist group Hefazate Islam’s threat to resist the rally.
“We are determined to hold our first rally in Chittagong. But while we make preparations for that, we are reaching out to different stakeholders, including labour organisations, media houses, cultural and political groups at the same time,” says Imran.
Imran, convener of the Blogger and Online Activist Network, which initiated the Shahbagh movement, adds that the Shahbagh activists also want to form a cultural front of the movement. To this end, a stage has already been set up at the Shahbagh intersection, now also known as Projonmo Chattar.
“Since our movement is about a political issue, we need to maintain our presence on the streets. But because it is also an ideological issue, we need to turn it into a cultural movement.”
On a similar note, Badiuzzaman Shohag, president of Bangladesh Chhatra League, argues that greater attention needs to be given to the cultural front of the struggle.
“We will centre our programmes around different national days at various venues to inspire the people towards the cause,” he said.
SM Shuvo, president of Chhatra Union, maintains that the main focus is to successfully hold rallies in all seven divisions of the country.
“We are also continuing dialogues with cultural and political organisations, and we are initiating the process of bringing all the pro-liberation forces to the streets again,” he said.
Different political groups have already begun the process of mobilising their grassroots activists and supporters, said Bappaditya Basu, president of Bangladesh Chhatra Moitree.
Several teams of the Gonojagoron Mancha will also begin mobilising people in different districts soon, he said, adding that it was time to shift the focus of the movement from mass awareness to mass resistance.
According to Probir Shaha, president of Chhatra Federation, the movement will enter a new phase after the March 26 ultimatum.
The process of amending the International Crimes Tribunal Act and the revival of a case to cancel the Jamaat’s registration are the outcome of popular pressure, he said, adding that their next course of action would depend on how the government responded to their demands.
Asked if the organisers have managed to include diverse interest groups and individuals within the decision-making process, Imran said: “In the beginning we were a little sceptical about letting just about anyone in, for fear of infiltration by Jamaat-Shibir. So we included established organisations and groups with a clear pro-liberation stance in the decision-making process.”
But now the protesters are making efforts to include the opinions and concerns of a wider range of groups.
The organisers say they will hold meetings and dialogues with activists and supporters in different parts of the country to ensure that their opinions are reflected in the Gonojagoron Mancha programmes.
However, it is difficult, logistically and otherwise, at the moment to hold meetings on a large scale, they said, adding that they were trying to find a way to facilitate democratic participation of the protesters.
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