Over 100 were injured as police and ruling Awami League supporters attacked or obstructed road marches organised by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in districts on Saturday to press home their demand for party chief Khaleda Zia’s unconditional release and her treatment abroad.
New Age correspondents in Habiganj, Barguna, Natore, Narayanganj, Manikganj, Patuakhali, Netrakona, Bhola, and Kushtia reported that BNP leaders and activists came under attack by police or ruling Awami League people during their road marches.
Addressing a press conference at the BNP’s Naya Paltan central office, the party’s senior joint secretary general, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, said that several thousand party leaders and activists were injured in the attacks.
New Age Staff Correspondent in Sylhet reported that more than 50 people, including the Habiganj Sadar police station officer-in-charge and nine other cops, were injured in a clash between the BNP activists and the police in the district town.
Habiganj district unit BNP joint convener GK Gaus claimed that when they were returning home after a peaceful march, the police attacked them at the order of the additional superintendent of district police Khalilur Rahman and Sadar police station officer-in-charge Ajay Chandra Dev.
He said that Habiganj municipal unit BNP general secretary SM Abdul Awal was among those critically injured.
Locals said the police fired a number of rubber bullets and teargas shells after a clash broke out between the police and the BNP activists at about 5:00pm. The clash continued until 7:00pm.
In the face of the attack, BNP supporters took position on the side of a road and hurled brickbats at police, witnesses said.
Habiganj police additional superintendent Khalilur Rahman claimed to New Age that several police personnel, including OC Ajay, were among the injured.
New Age Staff Correspondent in Rajshahi reported that at least 20 leaders and activists of the main opposition BNP were injured as the ruling Awami League supporters attacked them in Natore town on Saturday.
Natore district BNP was scheduled to hold a road march in front of the party’s district office in the Alaipur area at 9:00am demanding Khaleda’s release.
However, the party could not hold the road march until 12:20pm as the followers of AL lawmaker for Natore-2 constituency Shafiqul Islam took a position in front of the district BNP office and held demonstrations, witnesses said.
Shahidul Islam Bachchu, acting convener of district BNP, said that wearing black masks, a group of AL goons in a black microbus carried out a sudden attack on their party leaders and activists with sharp weapons and sticks in front of Natore Sugar Mill High School at 8:00am while they were heading towards the party office to join the road march.
He said that five of their leaders and activists, including Kafuria union parishad chairman and union BNP vice-president Abul Kalam Azad, union Juba Dal general secretary Kamal Hossain, and union Chhatra Dal president Tuhin Hossain, were injured in the attack.
Bachchu alleged that the AL supporters also attacked their party members at various entry points into the town, including the Halsa and Swarnapatti crossings, the rail station area, and in front of the power office, leaving at least 15 more injured.
He said that 13 of the injured leaders and activists were admitted to different hospitals, including Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, as they suffered fractures in their hands and legs, while the condition of Abul Kalam Azad was critical.
The BNP leader said that despite AL’s attacks on their party people, they began the road march in front of the party office at 12:20pm but had to shorten it due to police obstruction.
Police pushed BNP leaders and activists inside the party office while district BNP convening committee member Dewan Shahin was delivering his speech at a short rally following the road march, the party alleged.
Dewan Shahin told New Age that he could not end his speech as the police forcibly pushed the party people inside the party office.
He blamed AL lawmaker Shafiqul Islam and police inaction and partiality towards the ruling party for the attacks.
Shafiqul was not available for comment, as his mobile phone was found switched off.
Contacted, Nasim Ahemd, officer-in-charge of Natore Sadar Police Station, denied the allegation of obstructing BNP people from holding their road march.
He said that police pushed BNP leaders and activists inside the party office due to security concerns as their rivals took positions nearby.
In Barguna, at least 50 leaders and activists were injured as police charged batons on BNP’s road march in front of the Municipality Market in the district town, alleged Nazrul Islam Molla, former president of the Barguna district unit of BNP.
Abdul Halim, the additional superintendent of police of the district, claimed that they barred the BNP activists from advancing forward and that they engaged in a scuffle with police.
He claimed that they did not charge the baton and added that the BNP leaders and activists then returned to their district unit office and held a rally for about two hours.
In Narayanganj, at least 10 people were injured in a clash between the police and BNP activists in Kanchpur, Sonargaon, in the district on Saturday.
Locals said that police asked BNP activists to leave the road in the area, triggering an altercation, and at one stage, police charged the BNP activists with batons.
BNP leaders and activists started to hurl brickbats at police, prompting the security forces to fire teargas shells and rubber bullets to disperse them.
Narayanganj police superintendent Golam Mostafa Rasel said that BNP activists were causing chaos in the area in the name of a road march.
The law enforcement agency members tried to stop them. But they attacked the police. Later, police brought the situation under control by firing teargas shells, he said.
In Netrakona, a group of unidentified assailants detonated a bomb and vandalised an auto-rickshaw at the end of a rally organised by the BNP’s Netrakona district unit.
Law enforcers said they arrested at least six leaders and activists of the BNP and the party’s affiliated bodies and recovered some local weapons from the scene.
The incident occurred in the Kurpar area of the district town around 9:00am on Saturday, said
Netrakona model police station officer-in-charge Md Lutfar Haque.
He said that a group of ‘BNP men’ detonated a hand bomb and vandalised an auto-rickshaw at Kurpar while returning from the rally.
He confirmed the arrest of six ‘suspects.’ The member secretary of Netrakona BNP, Rafiqul Islam Hilali, denied the involvement of party members in the violence.
In Dhaka, the road march from the BNP central office at Naya Paltan to Moghbazar was held peacefully, with several thousand BNP leaders and activists participating.
Speaking at a brief rally before the party’s road march at the BNP central office premises, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that a new horizon would open up with the fall of the government.
Dhaka City’s North and South units of the BNP jointly organised the road march to press home the demands of Khaleda’s release and treatment abroad.
‘We, all the political parties, have been struggling to press home our one-point demand. This one-point movement also involves Khaleda Zia’s release. She is fighting for her life in the hospital. The government will have to bear all responsibilities if anything happens to her during her confinement,’ he said.
He said that Khaleda Zia was not only a leader of the Indian sub-continent; she is also a leader of the democratic movement in Asia. Khaleda Zia was arrested before the general elections in 2018.
‘She has still remained detained. She must be freed as soon as possible. She has been admitted to the hospital. She is very sick,’ Fakhrul said.
During Khaleda Zia’s tenure, free education for girls was introduced, according to the BNP leader. Her contributions could be narrated in short.
Referring to the present government led by Sheikh Hasina, Fakhrul said, ‘It’s an unconstitutional and illegal government.’
Regarding the arrest of BNP leaders and activists across the country, Mirza Fakhrul said that BNP leaders and activists could not stay at their homes, and the police continued to harass them.
‘This government has destroyed everything, right from the judiciary. We want the resignation of this government,’ he said.
‘Still, there is time. Don’t arrest BNP leaders and activists. Don’t raid their houses by employing police. Release Begum Khaleda Zia. Resign from power, accepting a one-point demand as early as possible,’ he said.
He said that Khaleda Zia was now receiving treatment at a hospital for serious ailments as the government was not allowing her to go abroad for advanced treatment, violating her human rights.
Fakhrul said that she had been convicted in ‘false’ cases and remained confined for the past five years only because of her fight for democracy.
