Police obstruct Mancha protests

Police have again obstructed a procession of Ganajagaran Mancha taken out in protest against the appeal verdict on war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee and ‘police atrocities’ on its supporters.

The Mancha took out the procession after holding a rally in front of the National Museum on Thursday evening at Dhaka’s Shahbagh.

Police held up around 150 protesters when they tried to move towards the Shahbagh intersection after the rally.

After nearly 30-minute-long argument, Mancha activists sat on the road and started raising slogans while police cordoned them off.

Mancha activists later ended their protests after failing to continue their procession.

Its spokesperson Imran H Sarkar said, “We wanted to hold a peaceful programme but police interfered with our right to protest.”

The Appellate Division on Wednesday reduced Jamaat-e-Islami leader and war criminal Sayedee’s death sentence awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal, to ‘imprisonment until death’.

Immediately after the verdict, Ganajagaran Mancha activists began protesting at Shahbagh on Wednesday noon.

But police used teargas and water cannon to disperse them.

The secular platform, pressing for maximum penalty for convicted war criminals, had announced Thursday’s programme in protest against the police action.

On Wednesday, State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal leapt to the defence of the police and argued that no-one can protest blocking streets despite their frustration over the verdict.

The Mancha has also announced a rally at Shahbagh for Friday rejecting the verdict.

Dubbed “the Bangla Spring”, the Mancha exploded into existence last year when general people gathered at Shahbagh to protest against life sentence of war criminal and Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla.

The protesters then occupied the key city point for around a month and were given police protection.

Faced with the popular movement, the government amended the International Crimes Tribunal Act, under which the suspected war criminals are being tried, allowing prosecution rights to appeal against the verdicts.