Blasts ahead of Mancha rally in Ashulia

The Ganajagaran Mancha's Friday rally in front of Fantasy Kingdom at Ashulia is expected to begin at 3:00pm.

Bloggers and leaders of student organisations will address the rally, Ganajagaran Mancha organiser and Biplabi Chhatra Maitri President Bappaditta Basu told bdnews24.com.

“All preparations are complete.”

A preparatory meeting was held at the second floor of the Dhaka University Central Students Union (DUCSU) building for the rally on Wednesday.

Islamist organisation Hefajat-e-Islam has called for resisting the rally at Ashulia as they did at Chittagong.

Hefajat’s Ashulia unit Convenor Mufti Monir Hossain said they would resist the rally ‘at any cost’.

Local Ulama Kallyan Parishad supported the call.

Basu said the rally at Ashulia would go ahead, because if the Islamists were allowed to have their way, “they will force the Mancha out of Shahbagh as well”.

Meanwhile, five crude bombs exploded in Beron and Gazir Char areas at around 1:30pm, Ashulia Police Station Officer in Charge Sheikh Badrul Alam said. Two people were injured.

Though the OC said the motive behind the explosions was not clear, many felt it was an attempt to foil the rally, because the explosions were barely two kilometres from the site of the proposed rally.

Heavy police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) deployment were seen at Ashulia ahead of the rally.

Fifty close-circuit television cameras were monitoring the area, the OC said.

Stage for the rally was ready on Thursday night, and people have started gathering since Friday noon.

Organisers said the Shahbagh protests would continue as usual, along with Ashulia.

Shahbagh protests began on Feb 5, hours after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 pronounced life in jail for Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Molla.

The protesters said the verdict was ‘too little, too late’.

Gradually the Ganajagaran Mancha spread to the corners of Bangladesh uniting people against 'war criminals'.