Hifazat men burn CPB office

Activists of the Hifazat-e Islam, a group believed to be backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami, have vandalised and torched the headquarters of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) in Dhaka after clashes with the law enforcers.

The previously unheard of organisation burst onto the scene following the maximum penalty of Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain.

The BNP has lent support to the group’s programmes and its chief Khaleda Zia has asked her supporters to rally around them.

Supporters of the radical organisation were on their way to Motijheel from their pre-announced ‘Dhaka siege’ programme to attend a rally there on Sunday afternoon.

Clashes erupted as several crude bombs exploded in front of the ruling Awami League’s headquarters at the Bangabandhu Avenue at around 1:45pm. Soon the whole area turned into a battle ground and the clashes spilled into Paltan.

The Hifazat activists vandalised the shops on the ground floor of Mukti Bhaban, the headquarters of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), breaking open the gate of the building. They threw brickbats to break the window panes up to the fourth floor.

The fire fighters could not reach the scene due to fierce clashes.

About the attacks on the office, CPB President Mujahidul Islam Selim said: “It’s normal that the anti-liberation force will have anger against our organisation, which was involved in struggles for democracy and movement for self-rule.”

The clashes were still taking place at Paltan at around 6pm. Pieces of bricks were lying everywhere in the area while smoke was billowing out of the building. Sound of crude bomb explosions were heard during the time.

Hifazat had announced to thwart a rally of the Ganajagaran Mancha, a platform pressing for the maximum penalty for convicted war criminals and outlawing the Jamaat as a political party.

The Chittagong-based group is said to be funded by the Jamaat, several of whose top leaders are standing trials on a raft of war crimes charges perpetrated during the 1971 Liberation War. Two of the leaders of Jamaat that had opposed the nation’s struggle for freedom have already been convicted.

The Jamaat and its student affiliate, Islami Chhatra Shibir, have gone berserk since November last year demanding dissolution of the war crimes tribunals and release of their top leaders.

The CPB has been demanding a ban on the Jamaat.