News Desk
DHAKA—The chants echoed through the streets outside Dhaka University.
“We want justice. We want it now.”
Zarin Rafiza, a student of the Women and Gender Studies Department, stood among the crowd, her voice hoarse but resolute. She, like hundreds of others, had abandoned classrooms and exams to demand action against a brutal crime—the rape of an eight-year-old girl in western Magura district. The child, now fighting for her life in a Dhaka army hospital, has become the face of a nation’s outrage.
“We have been silent for too long,” Rafiza said, standing beneath the Oporajeyo Bangla sculpture, a symbol of an invincible Bengal. “This is not just about one case. It’s about all the women who never got justice.”
The protests come at a volatile time for Bangladesh, a country still reeling from last August’s student-led movement that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after weeks of unrest. According to a UN fact-finding mission, as many as 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown before Hasina, 76, fled to India. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus now leads a volatile interim government, promising change.
But many women say nothing has changed—at least, not for them.
“We don’t believe words anymore,” Rafiza said. “We want action, starting today, starting this moment.”
Women’s rights activists argue that Bangladesh’s legal system is part of the problem. Trials drag on for years. Survivors face humiliation in court. Convictions remain rare.
“The accused cannot be granted bail simply because the trial isn’t completed in 90 days,” said Asif Nazrul, a legal adviser to the interim government. The administration has vowed to expedite cases, but many remain skeptical.
Rape and gender-based violence, activists say, have only escalated since the political changeover. The root of the problem, they argue, goes beyond law enforcement.
“We live in a patriarchal society where institutions, religion—everything—is exploited to normalize violence against women,” Rafiza said. “We need reform. In laws. In mindset. In every sphere of society.”
One of the protest’s key demands: redefining rape to reflect the realities of survivors. Another: cracking down on religious sermons that justify or incite gender violence.
“We have seen religious leaders instigate violence against women,” Rafiza said. “That must stop.”
For now, though, words remain just that—words.
And as the sun sets over Dhaka’s restless streets, the anger does not fade. The crowd is still there, still chanting. Still waiting for justice. Some quotes and image from ANI.
