After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, curious citizens vandalized and looted the area around the National Parliament Building, leaving it littered with garbage. In response, students took it upon themselves to clean the area.
On Tuesday, from morning until 5pm, students carried out cleaning activities inside and outside the Parliament Building and along Manik Mia Avenue.
Students from schools, colleges, universities, and madrasas participated in this effort.
The students stated that the country is theirs, and it is their responsibility to protect it.
Some people, knowingly or unknowingly, vandalized, set fires, and looted important structures, including the parliament building. Therefore, they, as students, are conducting this cleaning campaign.
On Tuesday afternoon, several hundred students from various educational institutions were seen cleaning the surroundings of the parliament premises with hand gloves, brooms, shovels, and black polythene bags.
Since the main building of the parliament was closed, they couldn’t clean inside, they said.
Additionally, when curious citizens tried to enter the parliament grounds, a group of students at the south gate prevented them.
The students tried to explain to the citizens why they should not enter. Around 5pm, after finishing the cleaning activities inside the Parliament area, the students cleaned the road in front of the South Plaza.
Nayeem, a student, said that the coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement called for cleaning the parliament through a video message on social media. Since the morning, students began the cleaning activities.
Nayeem said: “When I arrived in the afternoon, I saw many volunteers were already cleaning, so I joined them because it is our own property.”
Lamia, another student from Daffodil Polytechnic, said she had been cleaning since morning.
She was quite happy to be cleaning after the success of the movement. Lamia added that from there, they would go to Ganabhaban to continue the cleaning activities.
