Sever ties with Pakistan: Mancha

The Ganajagaran Mancha has vowed to stay put at the diplomatic zone in Gulshan until Bangladesh snapped its diplomatic ties with Pakistan.

Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarker made the announcement on Wednesday from a place which is merely a half kilometre away from the Pakistan High Commission.

The Mancha activists occupied a road at Gulshan-2, located between the German embassy and Australian School, after twice breaking police barricades during their march towards the Pakistan High Commission.

They also burnt a Pakistani flag there.

Imran censured police assault on three Mancha activists at Gulshan-2 circle.

He alleged police had attacked women and freedom fighters without any provocation.

Imran demanded immediate withdrawal of police officials deployed in the area.

Three injured Mancha activists, including Bappaditya Basu, were admitted to United Hospital in Gulshan.

The Ganajagaran Mancha moved towards the Pakistan High Commission with a procession around 3pm protesting "Pakistan's interference” in the execution of war crimes convict Abdul Quader Molla.

Police stopped the marchers in front of Taher Tower at Gulshan-2 around 3pm.

The Mancha activists demonstrated on a road beside Gulshan-2 circle.

The area was reverberated with anti-Pakistan slogans chanted by more than 500 activists.

They held up placards like ‘Pakistan don’t try to save your dogs’ and ‘Pakistan go to hell’.

At one point the marchers defied the police barricade and proceeded towards the High Commission.

Around 3.30pm, the marchers faced another police barricade in front of Al-Falah Bank.

The procession managed to enter the diplomatic zone around 3.40pm amid some scuffle.

Some Mancha activists hurled stones at the High Commission at that time but no damage was caused to it.

Jamaat leader Molla, infamously known as the 'butcher of Mirpur' for his Liberation War-time atrocities, was hanged on Dec 12.

Jamaat's Pakistan took to the streets protesting against Molla's execution. On its Facebok page, it called Molla a 'martyr'.

On Monday, the Pakistan national and provincial assemblies adopted resolutions expressing concern over Molla's hanging.

Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami had moved the resolution. It said Molla was hanged because “he was loyal to Pakistan and supported Pakistan army during the 1971 war”.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in a statement had said Molla had remained a “supporter of a united Pakistan”.

Bangladesh’s Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Tuesday had said the government would formally react on the matter.

Senior Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta then urged the government to protest Pakistan's move and inform the world about the war crimes trials.

The foreign ministry had summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Mian Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi Qureshi on Tuesday evening and "strongly protested" Islamabad's move.

The Ganajagaran Mancha came into being after Molla was sentenced to life on Feb 5 this year on war crimes charges, calling the verdict too lenient. The Mancha had since been pressing for maximum penalty for war criminals.

The platform said its demonstration would continue until all the convicted war criminals were hanged.