Speakers, including cultural activists, said on Friday that repression of women and destruction of the environment continued as before.
At the cultural rally titled 鈥楽top the Oppression of Women and Nature,鈥� held at Panthakunja Park in the capital鈥檚 Banglamotor, they called for resisting this oppression.
Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement and theatre group BotTala organised the rally marking 98 days of round-the-clock sit-in protest inside the park to cancel the Dhaka Elevated Expressway segment from Tejgaon to Plassey Crossing via Panthakunja Park and Hatirjheel Lake.聽
Cited media reports, Azad Abul Kalam, one of the founders of Prachyanat and Prachyanat School of Acting and Design, said that 16 incidents of violence against women, including rape, have occurred in the past two days, with many more going unreported.
He said that in a patriarchal society, the oppression and harassment of women had become almost like a tradition due to political, social, and religious reasons.聽
Mentioning that the July-August mass uprising had ignited a strong desire for change, particularly against oppression and repression, the actor said, 鈥楥ontrary to expectations, the opposite is occurring.鈥�
He also said that some are trying to impose certain ideas under the guise of being the 鈥楾auhidi Janata鈥�.鈥�
The actor further said that the environment was destroyed in the name of development through mega projects during the ousted Awami League regime and that this had been continuing under the interim government as well.
Referring to the ongoing protest to save Panthakunja Park, Shahman Moishan, an associate professor at Dhaka University鈥檚 Department of Theater and Performance Studies, said that some people had been protesting here for almost three months with a single demand, but there has been no response from the government.
鈥楪iven the current situation in Bangladesh, if we want to survive, we must stand firm,鈥� he said.
To protect the park and the lake, 30 rallies were held with more than 50 organisations expressing solidarity with the movement, and over 10,000 people have signed in support of the movement, according to the Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement.聽
The theatre group BotTala, the music group Mabhai, and the artists of Betal performed at the cultural rally, which was conducted by BotTala theatre member Humayun Azam Rewaz.
Shahidul Murad performed a mime, and Anannya Laboni Putul recited poems, while professor Samina Luthfa Netra read excerpts from the play Brikkha Sammilan.
