It was the cold winter morning yesterday when a group of three-four intelligible and easy-going teenage boys were spotted in the vicinity of the city’s Khilgaon.
Rudimentary and unsophisticated in their bearing, the country boys seemed to have been inspired by a delusion of grandeur.
The youngsters have seized a half-baked idea of joining “march to Dhaka” programme which they hardly know of, but are obliged to follow instructions of their seniors.
What could be extracted from a little chat with them was that the kids were brainstormed by the Chhatra Shibir stalwarts with ideas of “saving the country” from the grasp of the ruling Awami League.
Unconcerned and undaunted by the enormity of the risk to join the programme, the school-going adolescents were persuaded to head for the capital.
Of them was a 13-year-old, Polash, a seventh grader. The little boy said a group of 10 boys like him came to Dhaka on Thursday to join the BNP-led opposition called “march for Democracy” programme.
The teenage boy said he along with his squad left his village Chauddogram and came to Comilla by bus and rode on a train to reach Dhaka.
“Our seniors (Chhhata Shibir leaders) told us we needed to go to attend the Dhaka programme for the betterment of Islam and the country,” said Polash.
While talking to this correspondent yesterday morning, the boy revealed that now he had been staying at a residence in Khilgaon.
The house belongs to one of their student wing leader’s uncle.
Asked how he was involved with Chhatra Shibir, Polash said he joined the student organisation by filing up a designated form.
“Three days ago, our school unit president informed us that we have to join the programme in Dhaka to save Islam and the country from the iron hand of the ruling Awami League.”
He said: “Awami League was killing people and unlawfully hanging their innocent leaders in jail for war crimes, and for this reason, we are here to protest,” he said.
The soft mind absorbed the idea of what their school unit leaders instilled into them.
Being least concerned about what the fate would hold out to them, they were flying on rosy wings with the thought that they would be able to see Khaleda Zia, an opportunity they termed great.
“I have never seen Khaleda Zia before. It would be great if I can see her,” he said.
Asked whether his family knew about his joining the party programme, Polash remained silent. On being coaxed into talking about the matter, he denied making any comment.
In reply to a question if he was offered any money for attending the programme, Polash also kept mum.
He, however, said this much that his leaders instructed them not to talk about the matter.
A Shibir source said the party brought at least 20,000 school-going students from across the country to join the opposition’s “Dhaka march” for what they said an effort to “bring back democracy” and to curb the ruling party “repression” on the opposition.
The source added that the students would be lined up in front of the “march” with national flags wrapped around their foreheads.
Jamaat-e-Islami also brought school- and madrassa-going students to the capital and elsewhere in the country to join their agitation programmes, often using the children as human-shield in fight with the law enforcers.