Politics News

• Police-picket clashes mark daylong hartal: 100 hurt
• Hartal observed peacefully in Ctg, Rajshahi
• Road blockade in Khagrachhari continues

At least 100 people including 25 women political activists and two policemen suffered injuries in a series of clashes between opposition activists and police in the city during the hartal hours yesterday.

Police picked up some 50 pickets from different parts of the city during their demonstrations in favour of the hartal. However, Awami Jubo League claimed that over 100 activists of Awami League (AL) and its allied organisations including at least 10 women workers of Jubo Mahila League were picked up by police from different city localities while they were staging street demonstrations.

The Awami League-led 14-party combine called the countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal protesting what they said mass arrests of their activists with a view to obstructing their February 5 Long March towards the capital city, the BNP-led alliance government’s conspiracy to create artificial crises of agri-inputs including diesel, fertiliser and fuel and its ‘misdeeds, misrule and miserable failure’ to run the state and skyrocketing of prices of essential commodities.

The combined opposition called the action programme also to raise demand for immediate resignation of the alliance government to pave the way for holding parliamentary polls under a non-partisan caretaker administration after bringing reforms to the electoral system.

On behalf of the 14-party combine, Leader of the Opposition and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina announced the shutdown programme from a grand rally at the city’s Paltan Maidan after their ‘Long March’ towards the capital on February 5.

In the city, the major incident of the day occurred on the street in front of the Jagannath University-College in old Dhaka in the morning when activists of Chhatra League locked into a pitched battle with the club-wielding police squads that left at least 15 injured.

Three activists and one policeman with serious injuries were rushed to hospitals.

The clash ensued when police intercepted a procession of Chhatra League, student wing of AL, in front of the university-college at around 9am yesterday. Police charged batons on them who also threw brickbats in retaliation. Chases and counter-chases took place between them for some time. One of the policemen was admitted to Rajarbagh Police Line Hospital while two activists of Chhatra League were taken to local clinics.

At least 10 leaders and activists including president and secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) received injuries in front of National Museum at Shahbagh at around 9.15 in the morning when a procession of BCL came under police action.

President and general secretary of BCL Liaquat Shikdar and Nazrul Islam Babu tried to proceed towards Dhaka University campus leading a procession when police swooped on the student marchers. Both police and leaders of BCL locked in an altercation there. At one stage, police charged batons on the marchers to disperse them. In retaliation, the BCL activists also showered stones on the police squad.

A procession of Awami League led by its presidium member Matia Chowdhury was brought out from in front of Jatiya Press Club at around 6 am. After marching through Paltan crossing and Muktangan, the leaders and activists took position at Noor Hossain Square. They sat down there and held a rally for around six hours amid police cordon when movement of vehicles in the central parts of the city was restricted.

Among others, Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil MP, its presidium member Matia Chowdhury, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president Hasanul Huq Inu, Obaidul Quader, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya (Bir Bikram), Jahangir Kabir Nanak, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Dr HBM Iqbal and MA Gani of NAP (M) spoke on the occasion.

Addressing the rally Abdul Jalil said his party will continue the ongoing movement against the BNP-Jamaat alliance government till it concedes to the 14-party combine’s proposal for bringing reforms to the caretaker government and the Election Commission (EC).

He also came down hard on the government for creating artificial crisis of agri-inputs including fuel and fertiliser and whimsically enhancing the price of fuel by Taka one exclusively for the country’s northern region. Jalil said the alliance government was playing a dual role in every sector and with the people’s lot to squeeze more money from pockets of the masses.

Police charged batons on a procession led by Omar Ali, vice president of Dhaka City Awami League in front of the office of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leaving five injured at around 11.15am.

Five activists of Awami Sanskritik Forum were picked up by police from the northern gate of GPO at around 12.30pm.

A procession of Jubo Mahila League led by Asaduzzaman Noor MP was brought out from Bijoynagar at about 10am. Police intercepted the procession in front of Jubo Bhaban at Dainik Bangla intersection. Noor locked in an altercation with police there. At on stage, police charged batons on them to disperse the procession that left seven women pickets injured.

Some 20 leaders and activists of Demra Thana Awami League were injured as police charged batons on them, when they tried to bring out a pro-hartal procession led by former MP Habibur Rahman Molla from Jatrabari Crossing.

A procession led by former MP Kamal Ahmed Majumder was brought out in Mirpur-10 crossing area at around 9.30am. Police lathi-charged them leaving at least 20 injured. Police also picked up seven marchers from the procession.

Police intercepted and charged batons on a procession of Jubo Mahila League at Paltan crossing when they tried to proceed towards Noor Hossain Square to join the 14-party rally there at around 10.30am. Some 13 women activists suffered injuries in police action in the incident while police rounded up three women activists from the spot.

Police intercepted and charged batons on a procession led by former MP KM Rahmatullah at Mahakhali at around 8am that left some seven leaders and activists injured.

A Juba Mohila Awami League leader was injured in a clash between police and the activists of Sainik League, who took out a procession at Russell Square in the morning, when a rally of Awami League was in progress there.

The clash ensued when police barred the marchers from joining the rally. As the marchers were barred from the rally, they threw brickbats on the police squad.

Asma Begum, president of Lalbagh Thana Unit of Jubo Mohila League was injured in the clash when police picked up former lawmaker Sattar Khan. AL central leader Col (Retd) Faruque Khan MP and former president of Chharta League Ajoy Kar Khokan whisked away Sattar Khan from the police custody. The incident created a sense of panic among the pickets in the area.

Earlier, a big procession led by Awami League central leaders Abdur Razzak MP and Mohammad Nasim MP was brought out from Nasim’s Dhanmondi residence in the morning.

Marching along Mirpur Road in Kalabagan area, the procession changed direction towards the street of Panthapath intersection and held a rally at Russell Square. Small processions of Awami League (AL) and its allied organisations including Awami Jubo League, Swechchasebak League, Mahila Awami League and Jubo Mahila Awami League joined the main rally.

Armed police and members of other law enforcing agencies, however, had taken their positions earlier at the entrance of Dhanmondi Road-32 with water cannons, riot cars and prison vans sealing off the roads in the area.

AL central leader and former Home Minister Mohammad Nasim presided over the rally, which lasted for about three hours from 11:30am. It was addressed, among others, by Abdur Razzak MP, Prof Abu Sayeed, Chief Whip of the Opposition Vice-principal Abdus Shaheed MP, Col (Retd) Faruque Khan MP, Shahjahan Khan MP, Abdul Hai MP, Ponchanon Biswas MP, Shamsur Rahman Sharif Dilu MP, Rezaul Karim Heera MP, Abdul Mannan, Akhtar Hossain, Dr Hasan Mahmud and Dr Mirza Abdul Jalil.

The AL leaders said the people have now been passing their days through a grave crisis due to acute shortage in the supply of agri-inputs including diesel, kerosene, fertiliser and seeds as well as electricity.

They said the alliance government, which had killed 10 people at Kansat in Chapainawabganj district who were raising their legitimate demands for supplying of power in their locality, played a double-standard with the people by raising the price of fuel by Taka 1 exclusively for the country’s northern region that has been reeling under acute crisis of fuel and fertiliser.

AL leaders also raised demands for implementation of their proposal for reforms in the caretaker government and Election Commission immediately.

Most of the shops, private establishments, business houses and educational institutions remained closed during the hartal hours, while attendance at banks, insurance companies and government offices including the secretariat was almost normal.

Buses did not operate from the city’s four inter-district terminals but a good number of BRTC double-deckers and private mini-buses plied various city routes defying the hartal. Some small mechanised transports and a good number of rickshaws were also seen on the city streets.

As an unspecified number of riot-gear policemen and other law enforcers equipped with water cannons were deployed at different strategic points to cope with any untoward incident and as the policemen diverted transports from the areas adjacent to the central office of Awami League and JSD, even traffic congestion also was witnessed at different city intersections including at Jatrabari, Gulisatan and Golap Shah Mazar crossings.

Operation of water vessels, trains and flights from the city’s Sadarghat River Terminal, Kamalapur Railway Station and Zia International Airport was not hampered due to yesterday’s shutdown, according to sources.

In a statement yesterday, Awami League president Sheikh Hasina congratulated the people for expressing their ‘no-confidence’ in the BNP-Jamaat alliance government by making yesterday’s hartal programme a success. The Leader of the Opposition also castigated the government for resorting to repression and arresting hundreds of activists and leaders across the country during the hartal hours.

UNB adds: About 8,000 police personnel, including female police and Ansar, have been deployed in the city to maintain peace during yesterday’s hartal.

In Munshiganj, most of the business houses remained closed during the hartal hours. The 14-party combine activists brought out several processions in the town ignoring police barricade.

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Feb 15: The daylong hartal was observed peacefully and to some extent partially in the greater Chittagong yesterday.

The mechanised vehicles were off the streets in the city. A few number of rickshaws were seen plying on the streets during the hartal hours. The mechanised vehicles and rickshawas started plying on the roads in the port city after 1 pm. The shopping centres of the city remained closed. The attendance in both the public and private offices was thin. The transactions in the financial institutions including the banks and insurance companies also remained suspended.

Our Correspondent in Cox’s Bazar says: At least 8 Awami League activists were injured at Cox’s Bazar town as 14-party alliance observed the day-long hartal yesterday. Political activists damaged two baby-taxis and 3 rickshaws in the town during the hartal period at the main road.

Staff Correspondent from Rajshahi adds: The countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal called by Awami League led 14-party alliance was observed peacefully with no untoward incidents in Rajshahi yesterday.

The activities at the government and non-government offices, banks and financial institutions of the city were disrupted and no classes and examinations were held at the educational institutions including Rajshahi University and at Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) during the hartal hours.

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Feb 15: An indefinite road blockade called by Zilla Nagorik Forum and Zumma Janagon Forum on the Khagrachhari-Mohalchhari-Rangamati road is continuing from February 12. A meeting was held today at Deputy Commissioner’s office with the leaders of Zila Nagorik committee, Zumma Janagan Forum, PCJSS and Bangalee leader’s but ended in conclusively.

The road block continued for 96 hours, demanding withdrawal of outsider Bangalees.

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