Hifazat activists flee Motijheel

Police and RAB ejected the protesters of Hifazat-e Islam from Dhaka’s Motijheel in a 15-minute drive amid a blackout in the early hours of Monday.

Skirmishing between the security forces and purportedly Jamaat-e-Islami-backed demonstrators throughout Sunday in Paltan, Gulistan, Kakrail and Bijoynagar left three dead.

Some 25000 Hifazat demonstrators of Motijheel retreated into the nearby lanes amidst clouds of teargas and a hail of rubber bullets. Police say most of those protesters were indeed Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir activists.

After the early Monday raid, seven bodies were brought to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) by police and people. Doctors declared all of them dead upon arrival, DMCH Police Outpost Inspector Mozammel Haq said.

A police Sub-Inspector, Mohammad Shahjahan, was hacked to death. He succumbed to his wounds on the way to a hospital.

However, bdnews24.com Correspondent Suliman Niloy saw police allow Hifazat activists to flee. Many were seen running with hands up above their heads towards Notre Dame College. Most of them made off through Tikatuli.

RAB-1 Captain Kismat Hayat talked to bdnews24.com about the raid. “We tried to talk to them (Hifazat) until the last moment that their demands will be met and that they leave the area.”

“Since they ignored, we were compelled to conduct the drive.”

The Hifazat supporters hurled crude bombs and brickbats at the law enforcers while fleeing, the bdnews24.com Correspondent reported. Two police and RAB men were injured at the scene.

Television footages showed armoured vans driving about and non-stop teargas shells being lobbed and rubber bullets fired in Motijheel which during weekdays is one of the busiest places in Dhaka.

Motijheel was littered with papers, sandals and some bags after the operation drove the assorted band of Hifazat and Jamaat supporters away. Fire was burning in a few places. Five vehicles were also burning at the scene.

Law enforcers took less than 15 minutes to take control of Shapla Chattar after conducting a simultaneous drive from the Notre Dame College and Dainik Bangla intersection at around 3am.

No leader of the Chittagong-based radical organisation was seen on the rally stage then.

Police began positioning themselves on the street stretching from Paltan to Dainik Bangla intersection since 8:30pm on Sunday. Some 600 members of RAB and BGB were deployed at Paltan at around 11:30pm.

Niloy said the RAB members started marching towards Motijheel at around 12:45am Monday.

After blockading the capital, its activists kicked off the rally at 3pm to push for the controversial 13-point of demands. But they later defied repeated government calls to evacuate Motijheel.

Hifazat’s chief Shah Ahmad Shafi was expected to roll out its future agitation programmes, but he did not join the rally citing security reasons.

Its Publicity Secretary of Dhaka metropolitan unit Ahmudullah Oyales disclosed the matter to bdnews24.com.

Police said he returned suddenly to Lalbagh madrasa after reaching Azimpur, but General Secretary Junaid Babu Nagari said Shafi had been barred from joining the rally.

“Ahmad Shafi is not being allowed to join the rally,” he had told bdnews24.com over telephone from the rally spot.

He hung up the phone after he was asked about the possible reason behind the ‘police move’.

Oyales said Shafi, however, in a message told supporters not to halt their ‘sit-in’ until their demands were fulfilled. But the number of demonstrators started to decline after Shafi said he would not go to Motijheel amid the drive by the law enforcers.

A police official, who preferred to be unnamed, told bdnews24.com the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir were taking hold of the street stretching from the Shapla Chattar to the Dainik Banglar intersection in the guise of the Hifazat activists.

At least 50 vehicles and several buildings were vandalised and torched in the adjacent areas of the rally by supporters of the Hifazat during their rally.

They also attacked the Mukti Bhaban, where the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) is headquartered. CPB has been vocal for a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami which opposed Bangladesh’s birth.

The headquarters of the ruling Awami League at Bangabandhu Avenue also came under attack and Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir blamed the activists of Jamaat and Shibir for the attacks.

The Awami League had asked Hifazat-e Islam twice to leave Motijheel.

Hifazat-e-Islam activists clash with the police at Paltan in Dhaka on Sunday.

“Please refrain from destructive activities if you (Hifazat activists) are respectful to the religion, Please leave (Motijheel),” senior leader Mohammad Nasim told a press conference on Sunday night.

The press conference took place within five hours of Awami League’s General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam asking the organisation to leave the place.

The BNP has lent support to the cause of the organisation and its chief Khaleda Zia asked her supporters to rally around the Hifazat men.