AGL 40.30 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.25%)
AIRLINK 130.29 Increased By ▲ 1.18 (0.91%)
BOP 6.29 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-4.7%)
CNERGY 4.03 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DCL 8.85 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (4.73%)
DFML 42.74 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (3.61%)
DGKC 87.50 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (0.57%)
FCCL 33.78 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.29%)
FFBL 65.96 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.09%)
FFL 10.67 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (1.23%)
HUBC 113.85 Increased By ▲ 3.15 (2.85%)
HUMNL 16.09 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (5.65%)
KEL 4.80 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.42%)
KOSM 7.98 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.92%)
MLCF 42.09 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (0.45%)
NBP 61.10 Increased By ▲ 0.60 (0.99%)
OGDC 184.90 Increased By ▲ 2.10 (1.15%)
PAEL 25.60 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (0.95%)
PIBTL 7.26 Increased By ▲ 1.00 (15.97%)
PPL 146.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-0.82%)
PRL 24.59 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.12%)
PTC 16.48 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (1.48%)
SEARL 70.51 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.01%)
TELE 7.36 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.82%)
TOMCL 36.16 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.39%)
TPLP 8.15 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (3.82%)
TREET 16.00 Increased By ▲ 0.70 (4.58%)
TRG 51.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.30 (-0.58%)
UNITY 27.46 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.4%)
WTL 1.28 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (4.07%)
BR100 9,896 Increased By 54.4 (0.55%)
BR30 30,314 Increased By 277.4 (0.92%)
KSE100 93,427 Increased By 906.4 (0.98%)
KSE30 29,046 Increased By 259.3 (0.9%)

Hundreds of thousands of people marched on the streets of the Bangladeshi capital Wednesday carrying placards calling for alleged war criminals to be tried in special tribunals, witnesses said. The march was organised by political parties, human rights groups, students and cultural activists to mark the 37th anniversary of independence of the country that was carved out of former eastern Pakistan.
The groups are demanding the trial of the extremist priests for allegedly masterminding mass killings. Thousands of paramilitary frontier guards and police reservists secured strategic installations in Dhaka. The interim government also beefed up security in the southern port city of Chittagong, the country's business hub.
Authorities said about 8,000 security forces were deployed for the anniversary. The high alert was in effect across Bangladesh because of threats from suspected militants vowing to disrupt independence celebrations. The militants are demanding Islamic rule in Muslim majority Bangladesh.
The official celebrations began at dawn and was heralded by a 31- gun salute, a military parade with army, navy and air force contingents participating in more than an hour of fanfare. A military hardware display included Russian-built Mig fighters and a customised South Korean frigate. For the first time in 37 years, a military delegation from neighbouring India was invited to witness the parade on the abandoned runway of an old airport near the army garrisons in Dhaka.
March 26 marks the separation of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, from Islamabad. Paramount leader Sheikh Mujib ur Rahman declared independence on March 26, 1971 and called on Bangladeshis to wage a war to drive out the occupying Pakistanis.

Copyright Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2008

Comments

Comments are closed.