Dhaka denizens hail the nation's latest heroes (6 June 1999)

6 June 1999

Dhaka denizens hail the nation's latest heroes

Our Staff Correspondent

The celebration that started on Monday midnight continued unabated in the capital yesterday as the national cricketers paraded through the streets amid thunderous applause of people from all walks of life.

Hundreds of jubilant cricket zealots poured onto the street to greet the heroes, who recorded a historic win against cricketing giants Pakistan at Northampton in England in the seventh World Cup.

The cricketers, who flew into the city Friday morning, spent another hectic day after the civic reception hours later at the National Parade Square.

The rally organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), started from the Bangabandhu National Stadium with the national heroes saddling open trucks, ecstatic with joy.

The motorcade, incidentally, began from the Motijheel and Sabujbagh area, the parliamentary constituency of BCB supremo Saber Hossain Chowdhury.

It looked like a moving panorama as hundreds of thousands of people, from street urchins to officials, students to housewives, children to the elderly, joined the bandwagon.

For those, who could not get the opportunity to have a glimpse of the heroes, lined the streets to clap the fifteen enfant-terribles, who turned the world of cricket, upside down, defeating Pakistan by 62 runs.

As men stormed the street, women did not miss the chance to have a view of Aminul Islam's conquistadors, peeping through balconies and roofs.

The BCB, however, arranged 15 yellow cabs (hired taxi) to accommodate a couple of hundred cricket enthusiasts on the distaff side.

As the motorcade with a long tail buzzed past the Rampura area, industrial workers from nearby garment factories came out in the street, forcing an impromptu lay-off, for a while.

Cheering crowds showered rose petals and shouted "Sabash! Bangladesh" (Bravo! Bangladesh) to hail the cricketers as the procession passed through residential areas.

The crowds lining up along the city streets waved at the motorcade, escorted by army personnel on motorbikes. At least 50 vehicles joined the spectacular rally.

A sea of cricket lovers - including girls and boys, wearing masks of the Royal Bengal Tiger and painting their cheeks with the national bi-colour - joined the long line of the processionists.

State minister for sports Obaidul Quader, BCB president and deputy minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives Saber Hossain Chowdhury, captain of the Bangladesh squad Aminul Islam and BCB officials led the procession.

The euphoria coupled with patriotic zeal gripped the participants, passers-by and onlookers battling to see the national heroes from standing buses, moving auto-rickshaws and rickshaws, as band groups played patriotic songs.

The cricketers visibly overwhelmed by the tumultuous ovation of scrums of masses, waved back to people whose unflinching support has taken the sport to this height.

The two-hour victory procession ended at the Central Shaheed Minar after parading through Fakirerpool, Shahjanpur, Kamalapur, Khilgaon, Rampura, Badda, Gulshan, Mohakhali, Bijoy Sarani, Manik Miah Avenue, Dhanmondi, New Market and Dhaka University campus.

The cricket stars along with the ministers placed wreath at the Central Shaheed Minar and also observed a minute's silence as a mark of respect to those immortal heroes who embraced martyrdom in the Language Movement of 1952.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)