The area surrounding the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque became resounding with slogans such as “Long Live Palestine,” “Long Live Palestine,” and “Free, Free Palestine.”
On Monday, several thousand people gathered at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram under the banners of various organizations, including Khelafat Majlis and the Jatiya Olama Mashayekh A’immah Parishad, in protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
People carried banners, festoons and placards bearing anti-Israel slogans.
They also waved the national flags of Bangladesh and Palestine to express solidarity with the innocent Palestinian people.
Some demonstrators symbolically carried coffins to represent the lost lives.
During the gathering, Islamic speaker Abu Taha Muhammad Adnan highlighted the necessity of clearly understanding the jurisprudential rulings regarding jihad in the current context.
He asserted that there is no alternative but jihad against Israeli barbarity.
He further said that the United States and other Western powers are openly supporting Israel’s acts of terrorism and that vocal resistance against them is equally essential.
He urged the severance of diplomatic ties if needed, saying: “We are always agitating at the tail of the serpent, but no one dares to strike its head. In this case, we believe the head of the serpent is America.”
Calling for a boycott of Israeli products, he also stressed the need to establish Bangladesh as a fully Islamic state, which he believes is essential to exerting pressure against the oppression faced by the global Muslim community.
Speakers demanded the deployment of ten million Muslims to Palestine.
They also called for the reinstatement of the phrase “Except Israel” in Bangladeshi passports and urged the international community, including Dr Yunus, to take initiatives for the rehabilitation of displaced Palestinians.
Following the rally, a procession moved toward the central Shaheed Minar, where it was scheduled to conclude.
