Photo:BSS

 
RANGPUR, April 16, 2025 (BSS) - Traders in the divisional city of Rangpur observed a half-day shop closure program today to protest the Israeli genocide in Gaza and express their solidarity with the oppressed and innocent people of Palestine. 

The shop closure program was observed at the call of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) and Rangpur District and Metropolitan units of Bangladesh Shop Owners Association (BSOA) from 6 am to 1 pm in the city.
 
All small and large shopping malls, supermarkets, markets and business establishments and shops in Rangpur city were closed during the period in protest against the Israeli genocide. 

However, shops selling essential goods, including kitchen markets, drug stores and food hotels, were exempted from the shop closure program. 
 
The RCCI and district and metropolitan units of BSOA jointly organized a protest rally, dua mahfil and symbolic programs at Zilla Parishad SuperMarket premises from 10 am to 1 pm to protest the barbaric Israeli attacks on the innocent people of Palestine. 
 
The rally was organised to lodge strong protest against the aggression and genocide of Israel, an artificial state supported by the United States and the Western world, in Palestine.
 
The traders and businesspersons closed their shops and participated in a protest rally, the burning of an effigy of the occupying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a prayer program for Palestinian martyrs. 

RCCI President Md Akbar Ali, Rangpur Metropolitan BSOA General Secretary Md Joynal Abedin, its Joint General Secretary Alhaj Tanbir Hossain Ashrafi, Supermarket Shop Owners Association General Secretary Rasheduzzaman Bulbul, District Shop Owners Association Joint General Secretary Alamgir Hossain Alam, RCCI Director Md Emdad Hossain, Jewelry Traders Association Organizer Abdul Alim Bulu and many others spoke at the protest rally. 
 
The business community leaders announced their decision to boycott all Israeli products from the rally.  
 
They called on the current head of government and the trade advisor to immediately publish a list of Israeli products and asked the government to take strict steps to stop the import of all Israeli products into Bangladesh. 

Leaders of 156 business organizations of Rangpur city, teachers and students, doctors, journalists, civil society representatives, politicians and people from various walks of life of the district participated in the programs in solidarity.