Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Protesters have vowed to avenge the killing of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haidar as they continue their demonstration at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka for the 12th straight day on Saturday.
Rajib, 30, an architect and Shahbagh protest activist, was found stabbed dead near his house at Pallabi in Dhaka Friday night. This prompted the protesters to go back to their 24-hour movement instead of seven-hour programme which they had declared hours before the death.
The organizers decided to limit the protest to seven hours daily considering people’s sufferings, especially of the patients of two adjacent hospitals—Birdem and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
Around 6:30am Saturday, the protesters started the day's activities with the national anthem.
Wearing black badges, people from all walks of life including students of schools, colleges and universities were seen converging at the intersection popularly known as 'Projonmo Chattar' in the morning.
Actor ATM Shamsuzzaman also joined the protest around 11:30am.
They also sang gono shongeet (mass song) in unison at Shahbagh where namaz-e-janaza of Rajib will be held after Asr prayers on Saturday.
The movement began on February 5, soon after a war crimes tribunal sentenced Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah to life term in prison for crimes against humanity during the 1971 war.
The protest was initiated by Bloggers and Online Activist Network, but it soon turned into a mass movement. Within days, it spread to other parts of the country, with the call for capital punishment to all war criminals getting louder and louder.
The Shahbagh protesters have been demanding immediate arrest of the killers and banning pro-Jamaat blog Sonarbangla that had been carrying out propaganda against Rajib over the last few days.
BBN/SSR/AD-16Feb13-1:14 pm (BST)