Students hurl shoes at DU 'Razakar hate monument'

The general students and public threw shoes at the "Razakar hate monument," a symbolic structure condemning collaborators of the Pakistani army during the 1971 Liberation War, at Dhaka University.

The demonstration began around Sunday afternoon, also the Martyred Intellectuals Day, in front of the Ducsu cafeteria building.

Gifts were also handed out to participants who took part in the demonstration.

At the site, several photographs were displayed on the wall behind the structure. The photos include images of convicted war criminals Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, as well as Khadim Hussain Raja, one of the planners of Operation Searchlight.

Many participants also expressed their hatred of collaborators by signing a public signature board titled "Silent Hatred," alongside throwing shoes at the monument.

Arafat Chowdhury, an organiser of the programme, a Dhaka University law student and a former candidate for the general secretary post in this year's Ducsu election, said the event's aim is to express hatred towards those who brutally murdered the country's intellectuals in 1971 and to remind the nation of the atrocities committed by the Pakistani forces, so that future generations do not forget this dark chapter of history.

The structure was originally built on the night of 15 December 2007 by Sadiqur Rahman, then president of the Arts Building unit of the Chhatra Union, and Abu Tayeb Habilder, a student of the then Urdu and Persian department.

It was inaugurated the following day, 16 December, by several sector commanders of the Liberation War led by AK Khandker.

The structure was demolished in 2008 and later rebuilt.