Thousands of people from all walks of life led by pro-student platform, Anti-discrimination Student Movement, on Thursday held a 'Shaheedi March' across the country in memory of the martyrs in the July Revolution and in commemoration of the one month after the fall of Sheikh Hasina government.
After the central march procession in the capital, they staged a short rally at Central Shaheed Minar and coordinators placed five demands.
The demands included immediate arrest and trial of people involved in killings in July and August, financial and legal aid to families of martyrs, identification and trial of corrupted administrators, turning Gono Bhaban into a mass revolution memorial museum and roadmap to state reconstruction.
Participants in the Shaheedi March were seen beaming with joy while many of them tied up flags around their foreheads.
The central march programme began from Raju Sculpture on the Dhaka University (DU) campus at around 4:00pm.
The procession moved through Nilkhet, New Market, Kalabagan, Dhanmondi, Manik Mia Avenue, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Bangla Motor, and Shahbagh, before concluding at the Central Shaheed Minar.
Students of different schools, colleges and universities in groups started gathering at the central venue at Raju Sculpture from 2:30pm.
They chanted various slogans such as 'we have shed bloods, we will shed more bloods', 'flood of bloods will wash away all injustice', 'In memory of the martyrs, do not fear death', 'our martyrs, our strength', 'Abu Sayeed-Mugdho, the war is not over' and 'in the red and green flag, the martyrs are seen'.
Addressing the rally at the Central Shaheed Minar, Coordinator Abdul Kader said, "Sheikh Hasina and her associates must take responsibility of the killings of thousands of people in the student-mass uprising."
Kader demanded capital punishment of Sheikh Hasina and her associates on charge of killing people.
Coordinators Hasnat Abdullah, Abu Baker Majumder and Sarjis Alam spoke at the rally, among others.
