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Bangladesh on Thursday commemorated Doppa Day and held countrywide protests against the persecution of Uyghur Muslims by the Chinese government.
On May 5, every year Uyghur communities around the world observe Doppa Day. Doppa is a traditional hat worn by the Uyghurs to celebrate and protect their cultural heritage. Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country, also shows its solidarity with the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang. Every year, NGOs all around the country celebrate this day to share their spirit of Ummah with minorities of Xinjiang province. Some of the programmes to commemorate the day are as follows: The BBSS Welfare Association observed Uyghur Doppa Day in solidarity with the Muslim Uyghurs of Xinjiang, China. A bicycle rally and protest meeting were organized by BBSS Welfare Association. The rally started from Police Plaza at Nikunj in Gulshan-1 went to Gulshan Avenue 1 and 2 and ended at Police Plaza. Later a brief protest meeting was held. Students of different schools and colleges, journalists and leaders and activists of political parties took part in it. The protest meeting was presided over by the founding chairman of the organization Tawfiq Ahmed Tafsir. Emdadul Haque Chalek, central leader of JatiyaSwechchhasebak Party, Mohiuddin, central leader of Bangladesh Jasdar party, Nasir Uddin Munshi, central leader of Jatiya Party participated in the brief discussion conducted by Shafiqul Islam, secretary-general of the organization and producer of Gazi TV. Open Dialogue Bangladesh(ODB) through a group of theatre artists organized a street play in front of the National Press Club staged by Samad Bhuiyan and his team to mark Doppa Day. The team creatively used Uyghur masks and Samad Bhuiyan to convey the sufferings of Uyghurs, which still continues in Xinjiang, violating all provisions of the UN Genocide Convention. Later, the artists were seen distributing Doppa hats. A demonstration was organized by Muktijoddha Mancha at GEC More, Chattogram (3 pm), to protest against China's excesses on Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan. Minority Uyghurs' Doppa (Hats for Muslims - which were banned in China) Day celebration was commemorated by highlighting the Chinese suppression of this Muslim community, through banners and posters explaining and displaying their inhuman conditions prominently. Muktijoddha Mancha organized another protest on the same issue at Saheb Bazaar, Rajshahi. Muktijoddha Mancha also pasted posters and painted walls, depicting human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims, prominently, all across the Dhaka University campus, especially in front of the Confucious Centre and Institute of Modern Languages (which houses the Chinese Language Centre). Later, Muktijoddha Mancha submitted a petition to the UNHRC and Amnesty International calling attention to these human rights violations. Bangladeshis took part in these demonstrations just after the Eid celebrations on May 3 to show solidarity with Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang province in China, understanding their plight. (ANI)
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