Young protesters were streaming back to Shahbagh intersection after alleged activists of Jamaat-e-Islami Friday afternoon attacked Sylhet Central Shaheed Minar and vandalised protest platforms, launched arson attacks and fought police across Bangladesh.
Published : 22 Feb 2013, 11:30 AM
Only a day ago, the protesters had called off their nonstop demonstrations at Shahbagh intersection after 17 straight days.
They are again converging on the streets of Shahbagh, the heart of the civil uprisings now christened as 'Prajanma Chattar'.
Activists of several Islamic parities clashed with police at Baitul Mukarram premises, Paltan, Kataban, Mirpur, Dhanmondi and many other areas in the capital after Juma prayers protesting what they call the “anti-Islamic” campaign by some Shahbagh bloggers.
Sporadic clashes also took place between police and suspected Jamaat activists in Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi and other districts.
The religious zealots attacked and vandalised the copycat Shahbagh mass protest venue, the 'Ganajagaran Mancha' in Chittagong and Rajshahi cities. They also vandalised Sylhet’s Central Shaheed Minar and a blood bank, and set ablaze the local outlet of the army-owned Trust Bank.
Police said the activists of the Jamaat and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir might have carried out the arson attacks using the programmes of the 12 like-minded Islamist parties as a cover.
Online newspapers, television channels, social networking sites like Facebook and community blogs were buzzing with reports of widespread violence by the so-called Islamist parties since afternoon.
On getting news, the youngsters started gathering at Shahbagh intersection in small processions at around 2:45pm demanding execution of all war criminals and a ban on Jamaat politics.
One of the protesters, Chintamon Tusher, told bdnews24.com from the spot, “Some 1,000 people gathered here in 15 minutes.”
Imran H Sarker, the spokesperson for 'Ganajagaran Mancha' at Shahbagh, said that the protesters were gathering as per the pre-announced programmes. “A formal announcement will be made soon from the 'Ganajagaran Mancha' after consultation with all organisers.”
The organisers from their Thursday’s rally announced that special prayers would be offered after Juma prayers on Friday in mosques and also other places of worships like churches, pagodas and temples seeking divine blessings for those killed in the hands of Jamaat and Shibir activists during and after the Liberation War.
Meanwhile, 12 Islamist and like-minded parties, including Islami Andolon Bangladesh, led by Pir of Chormonai, took out protest procession in different parts of the country under the banner of different organisations after the Juma prayers demanding punishment to 'atheist bloggers' and in protest against the ‘conspiracy’ to ban Jamaat politics.