'March for Gaza': Crowds gather in Suhrawardy, solidarity with Palestine

Slogans fill the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka. 'Palestine, Zindabad', 'Down with Israel' - thousands of people are joining the mass gathering of the 'March for Gaza' program in the park.

The main event of the 'March for Gaza' program will be a mass gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on Saturday to express solidarity with the Palestinians.

Even though the big event started at 3 p.m., a lot of people started arriving at Suhrawardy Udyan in pickup trucks and trucks with trailers as early as 10 a.m. Many people also came to the park with processions. The majority of people were seen at the time holding Palestinian flags and clothing with the inscription "La ilaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah." At 3 p.m. today, the declaration of the "March for Gaza" will be read from this stage. Leaders of various parties will be on the stage. Khatib Maulana Abdul Malek, a member of Baitul Mukarram, will preside over the gathering. Microphones have been installed in the area around the garden and the entire area, including Shahbagh, Dhaka University area, Matsyabhaban, Doel Chattar.

The main program began at around 3 pm on Saturday. Around 4 p.m., the declaration was read aloud. The declaration was read aloud and a speech was given by Mahmudur Rahman, editor of the newspaper Amar Desh.

he declaration made some demands to the United Nations and the international community. They are: the Israeli genocide must be tried in the International Court of Justice; effective and concerted action must be taken to stop the genocide, not a ceasefire; It must impose an obligation to return the lands from before 1967, international recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, and openings for Palestinian self-determination, security, and state sovereignty.

The demands made to Muslim leaders are: - All economic, military and diplomatic relations with Israel must be immediately severed; - Trade blockades and sanctions must be imposed against the Zionist state; We must stand by the oppressed people of Gaza with all-out support, including medical, food, housing, and defense assistance; we must launch an active diplomatic campaign to isolate Israel internationally; and we must stop the disenfranchisement of Muslims under the Hindutva rule of India, an ally of Zionism.

The declaration ended with some commitments. We will all voluntarily boycott Israeli-occupied goods, businesses, and organizations; We will prepare our society and future generations. Those who will preserve and restore all the symbols and signs of Islam and the Muslim Ummah; we will raise our children in such a way that they will be ready to make the ultimate sacrifice of life and property to protect their ideals and territory, and we will not be divided, because we know that it is not too late to conquer a divided people.

Leaders of various political parties also joined the event expressing solidarity to this programme.

Palestine Solidarity Movement Bangladesh, a little-known platform, opened a Facebook event ‘March For Gaza’.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Hefazet-e-Islam Bangladesh and AB Party, as well as renowned people from various professions, including Islamic speakers also expressed solidarity with the programme.

From the early morning, people from all over Dhaka started marching toward Suhrawardy Udyan to join the mass gathering. This stopped traffic in Shabagh and the surrounding areas.

Today, April 12, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched to Suhrawardy Udyan in support of Palestinians who are allegedly going through a genocide in Gaza since October 2023.A large number of people from various parts of Dhaka have been making their way toward Suhrawardy Udyan since the morning to attend this program. Traffic was halted in and around Shahbagh.