Probe Motijheel mayhem: Shafi

Hifazat-e Islam chief Shah Ahmad Shafi has claimed his organisation is being wrongly blamed for the May 5 violence in Motijheel and demanded a fair investigation.

In a media statement said on Wednesday, Shafisaid: “Some anti-Hifazat youths dressed in ‘pajama-panjabi’ felled hundreds of trees with electric saws in a short time to put blame on the Hifazat.”

Hifazat-e Islam, a Quami madrasa-based Islamic organisation based in Chittagong, held a rally in the city's commercial hub Motijheel on May 5 following its high-voltage 'Dhaka-Siege' programme to press home 13-point charter of demands.

The demands include exemplary punishment to all ‘atheist’ bloggers and others who "insult Islam" and a ban on mixing of men and women in public.

Rowdy Hifazat supporters, instigated and bolstered by Jamaat and Shibir activists, vandalised and set on fire police outposts, hundreds of shops, including dozens selling religious books, and makeshift vending stalls on footpaths at Paltan, Gulistan, Bijoy Nagar, Baitul Mukarram and Bangabandhu National Stadium markets during the mayhem that evening.

Hundreds of shops, including those of jewellery, electronics and furniture, were looted. Scattered ravages were seen throughout the area the next day. Small traders and street vendors in the area were badly affected.

The law enforcers in a pre-dawn raid dispersed the protesters the following day.

The BNP has claimed that about 2,500-3,000 people were killed in the crackdown.

Later, police and government issued separate press notes giving their versions on the forceful eviction of the members of the hard-line organisation amid opposition’s demand for clarification.

The government claimed that no one was killed in the eviction drive though 11 people, including a policeman and three pedestrians, died during the mayhem.

But the BNP termed the press note ‘false, fabricated and worthless’ saying it was nothing but reflection of the statements made by some ministers of the Awami League-led government.

But New York-based Human Rights Watch ruled out the opposition claim of 'genocide' on May 5 as 'unfounded', stating that such claims “has only served to heighten tension”.

Shafi in his Wednesday’s statement said: “The Hifazat activists were not involved in the torching of shops, business institutions and ATM booths of banks, and felling of trees on the streets in Motijheel and its adjoining areas during the post-Dhaka Siege rally.”

He also claimed that a vested quarter was involved in burning the copies of the Quran and Hadith to serve political interest.

Shafi asked for punishment to those responsible for the massive vandalism and arson and a fair investigation into the mayhem.

He also demanded the organisation’s Secretary General Junaid Babu Nagari released on bail on Wednesday be sent abroad for better treatment.

About Nagari’s health, Shafi said the relevant people will never be able to avoid responsibility if something happened to him because of mistreatment or negligence.

Nagari was arrested by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in Lalbagh on May 6.

He was placed on a nine-day police remand on May 7 in each of the two cases, including the one over Sub-Inspector Shahjahan Shikder killing. As those remands were over, the Hifazat leader was taken on another 22-day remand in three cases on May 16.

Nagari was sent to jail on May 21 after he made a confessional statement before a magistrate of Dhaka CMM court saying that activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir tried to use Hifazat’s rally to bring down the government.

He was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit of BIRDEM Hospital as his condition deteriorated following a leg surgery on Tuesday afternoon.