Police were unprepared to contain agitation in Bhola's Borhanuddin

Police had verbally approved a small rally to be staged under the banner of Muslim Tawhidi Janata in Bhola’s Borhanuddin last Sunday in protest against a Facebook post with ‘blasphemous content’, athough they later denied doing so.

But law enforcers tasked with policing the event were unprepared and unequipped to snuff out the unrest provoked by the decision to end the rally ahead of schedule. 

On the other hand, the organisers, Tawhidi Janata, lost control of the crowds after diverging from their original plan of holding a small rally and expanding the size of the programme.

At least six people who attended the meeting between the Tawhidi Janata organisers and the administration on Saturday night and witnessed the clash divulged the information to bdnews24.com.

The organisers called a rally at the Eidgah premises in Borhanuddin on Sunday after hackers reportedly seized control of the Facebook account of a Hindu youth to spread religious slur. Four people were killed after police retaliated to attacks by angry protesters.

The clashes and its casualties grabbed the headlines both at home and abroad. But it overshadowed the communal violence that followed as angry Muslims attacked a nearby Hindu neighbourhood in reprisal.

“It was decided in the meeting with the administration to suspend the rally. All members were told to announce the decision in their respective areas,” said Peer Moulana Muhibbullah from Batamara Upazila. “That’s why I didn’t go there.”

“But it was decided that those unaware of the suspension would be persuaded to return home if they appear at the venue. Representatives of the Alim community and the administration would do so in tandem. Therefore, I didn’t feel it necessery to go there,” he said.

"It was agreed that the protest leaders would speak to the crowd and convince them to go home. We were not supposed to address the protesters," said Bhola Police Superintendent Sarkar Mohammed Kaiser.

“We spoke at the request of the protest leaders to bring calm to the situation,” he said.

It was decided at the meeting on Saturday that the organisers would announce the suspension of the rally immediately afterwards as well as during the Fazr prayers at their respective mosques. But they instead prepared the stage for the event and installed 17 microphones. 

The meeting ended at 12am when it was already very late to inform people about the decision, said Jalal Uddin, the imam of Eidgah Mosque.

It was nonetheless decided at the meeting that the administration and the Muslim scholars would address the crowd on Sunday, said Borhanuddin Municipality Mayor Rafiqul Islam.

RALLY AND CLASHES

bdnews24.com spoke to witnesses, police and organisers for an understanding of the entire situation leading to the clashes.

The locals and Muslim devotees began streaming into the venue from 9am on the day of the rally. Additional DIG of Barishal Range AKM Ehsan Ullah, Bhola Police Superintendent Sarkar Mohammed Kaiser and acting UNO of Borhanuddin Hasibul Hasan Rumi arrived on the scene after 9:30 am.

Although the organisers agreed not to hold a big rally, they constructed a stage and installed 17 microphones. The organisers had a meeting with the administration and decided on who would address the gathering.

The rally began around 10am and was over at 10:30 am as most of the attendees began leaving the venue, Abdul Hai, an expatriate in Kuwait who lives just behind the venue, told bdnews24.com. He went to the rally premises to ‘see what happens’, Hai claimed.

“Those still present in the field began to shout at the organisers and the administration. Then two processions came from the northern bus stop and Borhanuddin market ended at the field.”

According to some witnesses, the decision to suspend the rally before its scheduled end sparked the furore.

“I took refuge in a school when the situation worsened and saw the agitated mob surround the police officers. Later, police took shelter in two rooms on the second storey of the mosque there,” said Mohammed Fazlu, a student.

“Police were holed up in the mosque's rooms but the mob began to throw brickbats at them,” HM Ershad, a local resident, told bdnews24.com.

Madrasa students resisted the disgruntled protesters' attempts to barge in before police opened fire in a bid to disperse them, he said.

Some of the video footage of the incident showed people breaking through the barricade put up by the madrasa students and entering the police's place of refuge.

Some men tried to break into the rooms with bricks and sticks, injuring one policeman in the process. This prompted the police into action as they sought to thwart the mob.

“I’ve never seen police exercise so much restraint. They only opened fire when they were compelled to. This led to the casualties,” said Ershad, a witness.

Police are investigating into the incident to see if there were any 'infiltrators' among the protesters, according to the law enforcement agency.

UNPREPARED POLICE

Police were not prepared to tackle the fallout from the refusal to greenlight the rally, believe some locals.

“You’ll find only 15 to 20 policemen present on the scene if you watch the video footage. It wasn’t enough to quell any escalation and that’s why they had to open fire on the protesters,” said a college teacher of Borhanuddin.

“The clash continued for enough time to call in additional forces from Bhola, but we haven’t seen police doing that,” he said.

But Superintendent Sarkar Mohammad Kaiser believes the police had taken adequate preparations to handle the situation. “We had a team of 40 with 20 of them at the front and 20 at the back. But the size of the crowd rendered the officers at the back inactive,” he said.

He said police called for additional forces but they could not reach the scene as people confronted them at the north bus stop.

PRESENCE OF CHHATRA DAL PRESIDENT

Ashraf Ali Sabuj, the president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's Borhanuddin Upazila wing, was present at the rally called in protest of demeaning post against the prophet. In a video footage that went viral, Sabuj is seen among the crowd as the Bhola police superintendent urged protesters to remain calm.

“Why don’t you shoot him?” Sabuj is heard asking when the superintendent mentioned Biplab Chandra Shuvo, the man whose Facebook ID was allegedly hacked to spread the religious affront.

Sabuj went into hiding after his presence in the rally came to light. His mobile phone is switched off.

“I’m not aware of the issue as yet. We’ll follow up on it if there is any directive from the central committee to take action against him,” Bhola Chhatra Dal General Secretary Al Amin told bdnews24.com.