By Safaa Abdoun
CAIRO: A million man march is scheduled to take place in Tahrir Square on Friday Feb. 25, to mark the one month anniversary of the Jan. 25 demonstrations that sparked the revolution.
Despite their various objectives behind staging this march, a number of movements have announced their participation.
The April 6 Youth Movement are dubbing it the “Friday of Cleansing and Protecting the Revolution”, an event that will include a memorial for the martyrs who lost their lives to overthrow the regime.
After 18 days of demonstrations, former president Hosni Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11.
The April 6 Movement said that only the regime’s symbol has fallen, which is why they are calling for the dismissal of Ahmed Shafiq’s government, the dissolution of state security apparatus, and the inclusion of Shoura Council Speaker Safwat El-Sherif, Chief of the Presidential Staff Zakaria Azmy and former Intelligence Chief and brief Vice President Omar Suleiman with Habib Al-Adly in the investigations into the use of violence against demonstrators.
The march will also be to show of solidarity with the people of Libya, Yemen and Bahrain in their fight for freedom against their dictatorial and corrupt regimes.
The Muslim Brotherhood are also calling for a million man march in order to “advocate the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience.” They refer to those still held in detention despite being entitled to parole and release as per acquittals by civilian courts which were defied by the former regime.
These detainees include Muslim Brotherhood deputy chairman Khairat El-Shater and key figures such as businessman Hassan Malek and Osama Suleiman.
The Coordination Committee of the People of the Jan. 25 Revolution, is referring to this Friday as the “Friday of Salvation” from the government of the past regime. They also want to put an end to Mubarak’s stay in Sharm El-Shiekh, according to state-owned daily Al-Ahram.
The committee is a coalition of six movements including the Egypt Revolutionaries, Free Egypt and the January 25 Youth.
