Govt given deadline to ban Jamaat

Demonstrators from the ‘Ganajagaran Mancha’ at Shahbagh on Thursday gave the government a Mar 26 deadline to start the process for banning Jamaat-e-Islami from politics.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 Feb 2013, 06:46 AM
Updated : 21 Feb 2013, 10:09 AM

Imran H Sarker, the spokesperson for the Mancha, also announced the next course of action while speaking at a massive rally at Shahbagh, now christened Prajanma Chattar, in the afternoon.

Sarker, however, did not make any specific announcement regarding their sit-in demonstration.

He later told reporters that they would converge on the Dhaka University-bound road instead of Shahbagh intersection from morning to night to press home their six-point charter of demand. They will hold a mass signature campaign from 10am and present cultural programmes there from 3pm every day.

The sit-in demonstrators will start at the same venue on 3pm the day before the International Crimes Tribunal pronounces a verdict on any of the war crimes suspects.

The protestors also issued an ultimatum to the government to arrest within next seven days the killers of Ahmed Rajib Haider, a young blogger and one of the organisers of the agitation against the 1971 war criminals.

“The uprising of the masses cannot go in vain. The Prajanma Chattar will always will be awake,” he told the massive rally.

Tens of thousands of people descended on the ‘Prajanma Chhattar’ as the protesters kicked off their grand rally at 3pm, to press their demand for awarding capital punishment to all convicted war criminals.

Leaders of different socio-cultural and political organisations were present there. The huge rally stretched up to Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the north, TSC of Dhaka University in the south, Ramna gate in the east and Kataban in the west.

The 17th day of the popular movement coincided with the Language Martyrs' Day, universally observed as the International Mother Language Day.

On Feb 5, the youngsters burst into protests at Shahbagh hours after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Abdul Quader Molla, Assistant General Secretary of Jamaat, to life term in jail for perpetrating crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

An online activists’ group, Blogger and Online Activists Network (BOAN), gave a call through online social networks to raise their voice against the ‘lenient’ verdict.

In the face of the spontaneous nonstop movement, the government has already passed the ‘International Crimes (Tribunals) (Amendment) Bill, 2013’ with provisions for trial of the anti-liberation organisations, including Jamaat, and giving equal scope for appeal against verdict on any war crimes case by both defence and prosecution.

The ‘Ganajagaran Mancha’ has termed the passage of the law a great achievement.

In his statement, Sarker said: “In face of the vigorous movement, the government has been compelled to create scopes for appeal against verdict on any war crimes case. Now the appeal has to be disposed of within maximum 60 days from the date of its filing. The achievement has been possible due to your all-out supports.”

The demonstrators demanded formation of an independent commission to take legal action against all financial institutions that patronise Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.

They also demanded conducting special operation against Jamaat and Shibir to ensure public security. Allegations have been there that the unruly Jamaat supporters killed Ganajagaran Mancha activist Rajib.

The protesters urged the government to take action against the protectors of war criminals and certain media outlets that are trying to provoke communal and religious hatred by republishing indecent and slanderous remark against Islam.

The Ganajagaran Mancha also announced rallies in some other venues of the capital.

The demonstrators will hold a rally and take oath at Rayer Bazar Martyred Intellectuals’ Memorial on Feb 23 while another rally will be held at Mirpur-10 intersection on Feb 25.

Similar rallies will be held at Motijheel Shapla Chattar on Feb 27, at Bahadur Shah Park (Victoria Park) on Mar 3 and at Jatrabari on Mar 5.

A rally and protest will be staged on historical Mar 7 at Shuhrawardy Uddyan – where the Pakistani occupation forces had finally surrendered to the joint forces of Bangladeshi freedom fighters and Indian army on Dec 14, 1971.

Protest and revolutionary songs will be rendered at all Ganajagaran Mancha across the country at 3pm on Mar 1. Solidarity rallies will be held at all the divisional Ganajagaran Mancha from Mar 1-20.

A mass signature campaign will be launched both at home and abroad between Feb 22 and Mar 7 to press for their six-point demand. The signatures will later be placed in Parliament.

On Feb 22, special prayers will be offered after Juma prayers in mosques and also other places of worships like churches, pagodas and temples seeking divine blessings for those killed in the hands of Jamaat and Shibir activists during and after the Liberation War.