TO HELL AND BACK

The last whole week has been a difficult one for Dhaka dwellers. The Pahela Baishakh incident – where women were sexually harassed, stripped and molested – left many hurt, angry, bewildered and scared.

A whole week has gone by, but the authorities are still trying to look for proof of sexual harassment in the footage of the CC TV cameras set up in the area for the celebrations - nineteen in total. While print, visual and citizen journalists have marked and pinpointed the particular areas in the footage to help our authorities find the criminals, there still seems to be a 'confusion' amongst the top officials. 

This, however, did not keep the student groups silent. Many schools and universities got together at the Dhaka University premises and held silent processions and non-violent sit-downs. One group even presented lollypops to the officials at the Shahbagh police station, as a symbol of protest.

Read this week's spotlight (pages 8-9) to find out more about what happened on that dreadful day.