No Jamaat rally Tuesday

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Monday refused Jamaat-e-Islami permission to stage a rally on Tuesday at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka.

The Islamist party had held a rally at capital’s Motijheel under police watch on Feb 4, a day before party’s Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Molla was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity perpetrated during the Liberation War in 1971.

Jamaat’s plea was rejected this time amid the countrywide youth-orchestrated movement demanding death penalty for the war criminals. Most of the war crimes accused are Jamaat leaders.

The party sought permission for the rally to be held at 3pm on Tuesday.

Earlier, Jamaat had announced countrywide agitation on Tuesday to press release of its top brass and dissolution of the International Crimes Tribunals, which are trying the suspected war criminals.

DMP Motijheel zone Deputy Commissioner Anwar Hossain on Monday evening told bdnews24.com: “We haven’t given permission to them yet.”

After Jamaat leaders and activists assaulted policemen and clashed with them during several general strikes over the past few months, the party had threatened the government with a ‘civil war’.

Ruling Awami League’s allies Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Workers Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Socialist Party of Bangladesh (SPB) also harshly criticised the police for permitting the Jamaat rally at the capital’s Motijheel.

The ongoing movement across Bangladesh, sparked from the agitation at Shahbagh intersection, has raised a voice to ban the Islamist party, a key ally of main opposition BNP.