Several thousand leaders, activists and supporters of the Awami League and campaigners of the 1971 war crimes trials gathered at the historic Trafalgar Square in London on Monday to attend the โRally for Bangladeshโ event with a vow to bring back five-time Prime Minister and Bangabandhuโs daughter, Sheikh Hasina, to power.
They chanted slogans like โJoy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhuโ, โSheikh Hasina Ashbe, Bangladesh Hashbeโ, “Once Again Sheikh Hasina”, and โStep Down Yunusโ to transmit a message from the diaspora to those being persecuted in Bangladesh: You are not alone.
The activists displayed large and small flags of Bangladesh. Also, they held banners and posters that depicted various misdeeds of the regime, including killings, torture and arbitrary arrest of dissent voices.
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The event drew the attention of the British people and tourists, who were seen taking photos of the protesters.
The choice of venue was symbolic. On August 8, 1971, Trafalgar Square hosted landmark gatherings of Bengalis seeking to raise international awareness for the Liberation War. The event was titled โRecognise Bangladesh Rally.โ
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More than five decades later, the same square once again reverberated with the spirit of resistance as the leaders of the Awami Leagueโs UK and other units in Europe attended the โRally for Bangladesh.โ
The rally at Trafalgar Square began around noon after the activists gathered there in a procession from the White Chapel Sainsbury Supermarket.
Former ministers Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury and SM Rezaul Karim, former MP Abu Sayeed Al Mahmood Swapon and former Sylhet mayor Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury attended the event, shared ideas with the party activists and spoke to the press.
Speakers who delivered speeches at the gathering denounced the ban on the activities of the Awami League and its affiliated bodies, imposed by the illegal and unconstitutional regime.
They demanded that the farcical trials at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) be stopped because the regime does not have the authority to try the Awami League members by revising the law through an ordinance.
They highlighted the plight of the people in Bangladesh, saying that the Yunus regime, backed by radical Islamists and the war criminal party Jamaat-Shibir, turned the country into a Death Valley.
They also raised the regimeโs efforts to hide the incidents of massive corruption, nepotism, and mismanagement in governance by falsely accusing the family of Sheikh Hasina, Awami League leaders and the pro-liberation forces.
English