DHAKA: Thousands of Bangladeshi students took to the streets of Dhaka on Monday to call for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, joining a global strike in solidarity with Palestine.
The student protesters skipped classes and rallied in different parts of the capital throughout the day, with the biggest crowd gathering at Dhaka University, Bangladesh’s largest and oldest tertiary institution.
“We are observing today’s strike as part of a global solidarity call with the people of Palestine,” Mostafa Mushfiq, an anthropology student at Dhaka University, told Arab News.
“We want to demonstrate to everyone that all students and people from different professions and classes are united against the mass killing in Gaza.”
The call for a global strike for Gaza comes after Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas on March 18, launching a wave of deadly airstrikes that have since killed more than 1,300 people.
Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates that at least 50,752 Palestinians have been confirmed dead and 115,475 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023. The real toll is likely to be much higher as thousands of people are missing under the rubble.
Monday’s strike and protests were joined by students from various universities across Bangladesh, many with the support of their lecturers and college administrators.
“Our protests and struggles will continue … We are feeling a new spirit now. Our teachers are completely on our side in this movement,” Mushfiq said.
Bangladeshi students have previously led other rallies in solidarity with Palestine, demanding more action from the international community to stop Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza.
“As a Bangladeshi, as a Muslim, it is my duty to be here to tell the world what is really going on, to let the Gaza people know that we are here, we hear them, we are praying for them,” Arafat Hossain Siam, a student from the Shanto-Mariam University in Dhaka, told Arab News.
“Don’t lose hope. Allah is watching. God willing, they will be free.”
The students were joined by ordinary Bangladeshis as they waved Palestinian flags, carried posters and chanted slogans in solidarity with Gaza. Some demanded that the Bangladeshi government do more.
“We demand a strong stance from the Bangladeshi government on the issue of ongoing mass killing in Gaza,” Tahmid Hossain, a master’s student in Dhaka University, told Arab News.
“The Palestinians are being suppressed for a long time. For around 100 years, we have noticed that day by day, aggression continues on the Palestinian land and their land is occupied by the Israelis … The Israeli attack on Gaza people, which began over a year ago, has crossed all the limits now.”
