Human chain in Tampere expresses solidarity

A group of students formed a human chain at Tampere city centre on Tuesday and expressed their solidarity with the ongoing students’ movement in Bangladesh in demand of effective measures to ensure road safety in the country.

They also strongly criticised an attack on agitating students and journalists by activists of the ruling party’s student wing and police.

School and college students in Bangladesh have been staging demonstrations on streets in Dhaka for the last one week demanding road safety measures following deaths of two school students rammed into by a speeding bus.

About 50 people, mostly international students living in Tampere, formed the human chain in front of Keskustori at noon and expressed their solidarity with the agitating Bangladeshi students.

“We have known that the Bangladeshi students took to streets demanding road safety measures. We are staging the demonstration here to express our support to the Bangladeshi students,” said Saiful Islam, a participant of the human chain.

Pointing out the huge number of casualties in road accidents in Bangladesh every day, another participant, Syed Jobairul Alam Bijon, said the Bangladesh government should take stern measures in this regard.

“We are deeply concerned about the deterioration of human rights in Bangladesh,” said one of the organisers, Nasir Uddin Badal, pointing out the government oppression on freedom of expression.