Now, Khoka sees ‘Shahbagh youths’ at fault

Upbeat about the Shahbagh protesters until the other day, BNP Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka Saturday called for resisting the demonstrators demanding death for all war criminals and collaborators of 1971.

“The Shahbagh movement has turned into one against the people. It seems the youths there are supporting the government and have gone against the people,” he told a pre-procession rally in front of the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters in the afternoon.

On Feb 13, the Convenor of the BNP’s metropolitan unit had paid tribute to the Shahbagh protesters for their indomitable spirit saying, “A rally called by the youths is going on at Shahbagh. They are demanding several things. We respect their emotions as a pro-liberation war party.”

People have been demonstrating at the capital’s Shahbagh since Feb 5 to press for their demands including banning the Jamaat-e-Islami. The mass protests spread across the country since the movement began, further strengthening the demands.

Addressing the protesters, Khoka Saturday said, “Try to understand people’s mind. Ignore the government’s backing, or else we will create resistance everywhere against you. You won’t even get a chance to escape.”

The main opposition party earlier in the day had taken out processions in protest against the violence that rocked the country over the last few days.

Ever since the International Crimes Tribunal-1 Thursday awarded death sentence to Jamaat executive council member and war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee, leaders and activists of the party have been carrying out violent attacks across the country leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured.

The Islamist party also announced a 48-hour countrywide shutdown from Sunday rejecting the verdict.

Khoka said, “The government executed mass killings across the country in the last few days. They are pushing the country towards conflict. They have brought the situation to this level to create a confrontation between the spirit of the Liberation War and religious belief.”

He alleged the youths at Shahbagh had sided with the ruling Awami League. “The movement is going on guarded by police under the government’s patronage. Those youths are eating the food the government is delivering.”

Meanwhile, the BNP Friday also called a dawn-to-dusk nationwide shutdown for Tuesday protesting what they called ‘mass killing’ over the last few days by police.