The Chhatra League staged a sudden midnight march in Chittagong city, marking the first such public demonstration since the ousting of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
The march began at around 1:15am on Saturday from Cheragi Pahar intersection and concluded abruptly in front of the Chittagong Press Club in the Jamal Khan area in the city. More than 50 leaders and activists of the Chhatra League took part in the march.
Videos of the Chhatra League march were shared on social media later that night from the official, verified page of the Bangladesh Awami League.
The caption read: "The streets of Chittagong are echoing with the slogans of 'Joy Bangla.' The soldiers of Bangabandhu's ideology cannot be silenced by oppression, tyranny, or torture."
Meanwhile, one video circulating online shows two masked youths leading the procession on motorcycles as it moved down Jamal Khan Road. The participants chanted slogans such as "Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu" and "Sheikh Hasina’r Bhoi Nai, Rajpath Chhari nai."
Sources said the march was in protest against the recent arrest warrant issued for Sheikh Hasina.
The sudden demonstration drew sharp criticism from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. Leaders of the movement accused the Awami League of exploiting police inaction to stage their protest.
Rasel Ahmed, a coordinator of the Chittagong Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, condemned the march, saying: "We have called for a protest rally at 3pm on Saturday at Jamal Khan to denounce the use of streets stained with the blood of martyrs to promote the rehabilitation of the murderer Hasina."
The Hasina government was toppled on August 5 in a mass student uprising, with the Awami League last publicly seen on the streets of Chittagong the day before, on August 4.
