Hifazat activists flee Motijheel
Sulaiman Niloy, bdnews24.com
Published: 2013-05-05 20:01:19.0 Updated: 2013-05-06 01:07:54.0
Hifazat activists flee Motijheel - bdnews24.com
Police and RAB expelled the protesters of Hifazat-e Islam from Dhaka’s Motijheel in a 15-minute drive amid a blackout in the early hours of Monday.
4 die in Hifazat havoc
2013-05-05 14:21:05.0
The demonstrators had converged on the business district for a rally with a vow to not leave the venue unless their demands were met.
After a day of deadly violence that left several people dead, security forces started moving in from all directions toward the Shapla Chattar soon after the day started.
The law keepers were trying to clear the commercial hub where police say the rally was continuing way beyond the time granted.
The whole area was cordoned off first. Staying put there were some 25,000 people, most of whom were activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir, according to police.
bdnews24.com Correspondent Sulaiman Niloy said three corpses were lying beside the rally stage at Motijheel after the activists of Hifazat had fled the scene.
The three were believed to have died when the supporters fought pitched battles with police in the capital earlier in the day as their bodies were already covered in cloths.
Another four people lost their lives in the clashes that broke out in the streets surrounding the Baitul Mukarram on Sunday.
Police said a helper of a bus they had requisitioned was killed and more than 50 were injured in those clashes. They said two more people died of their injuries later.
One of the two was ‘Mamun’, 21 and the other is yet to be identified, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) Police Camp Inspector Muzzamel Haque told bdnews24.com
Niloy, who was at the scene before the final push began at around 2:30am, said at least 100 people were injured during the operation. Police suspect one of them has died.
Private station Ekattor Television said several of the injured had been brought to the DMCH.
The protester had taken refuge in many buildings after police fired rubber bullets, tear shells and sound grenades at them.
Thousands of protesters fled towards the Notre Dam College with their hands raised up to show police they wanted to run away. Several were arrested then.
”We tried to discuss with them until the very last moment. We tried to convince them that their demands would be fulfilled,” RAB-1 Commander Kismat Hayat told bdnews24.com.
”We were forced to conduct the drive as they repeatedly ignored our calls,” he said.
After retreating from the Shapla Chattar, some protesters started hurling brickbats and hand bombs towards police and RAB personnel from the alley beside the ALICO building, leaving two law keepers injured.
Television footage showed some of the police riot cars were patrolling the whole Motijheel area. Tear shells and rubber bullets were also being lobbed.
Thousands of papers, sandals and some bags lay on the streets after the protesters had made off.
Law enforcers took less then 15 minutes to take control of the Shapla Chattar after conducting a simultaneous drive from the Notre Dame College and Dainik Bangla intersection at around 3am Monday.
No leader of the Chittagong-based radical organisation, believed to be backed by the Jamaat-e-Islam, was seen on the rally stage then.
Police began positioning themselves on the street stretching from Paltan to Dainik Bangla intersection since 8:30pm on Sunday. Some 600 members of RAB and BGB were deployed at Paltan at around 11:30pm.
Niloy said the RAB members started marching towards Motijheel at around 12:45am Monday.
After blockading the capital, its activists kicked off the rally at 3pm to push for the controversial 13-point of demands. But they later defied repeated government calls to evacuate Motijheel.
Hifazat’s chief Ahmad Shafi was expected to roll out its future agitation programmes, but he did not join the rally citing security reasons.
Its Publicity Secretary of Dhaka metropolitan unit Ahmudullah Oyales disclosed the matter to bdnews24.com.
Police said he returned suddenly to Lalbagh madrasa after reaching Azimpur, but General Secretary Junaid Babu Nagari said Shafi had been barred from joining the rally.
“Ahmad Shafi is not being allowed to join the rally,” he had told bdnews24.com over telephone from the rally spot.
He hung up the phone after he was asked about the possible reason behind the ‘police move’.
Oyales said Shafi, however, in a message told supporters not to halt their ‘sit-in’ until their demands were fulfilled.
But the number of demonstrators started to decline after Shafi said he would not go to Motijheel amid the drive by the law enforcers.
A police official, who preferred to be unnamed, told bdnews24.com the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir were taking hold of the street stretching from the Shapla Chattar to the Dainik Banglar intersection in the guise of the Hifazat activists.
At least 50 vehicles and several buildings were vandalised and torched in the adjacent areas of the rally by supporters of the Hifazat during their rally.
They also attacked the Mukti Bhaban, where the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) is headquartered. CPB has been vocal for a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami which opposed Bangladesh’s birth.
The headquarters of the ruling Awami League at Bangabandhu Avenue also came under attack and Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir blamed the activists of Jamaat and Shibir for the attacks.
The Awami League had asked Hifazat-e Islam twice to leave Motijheel.
“Please refrain from destructive activities if you (Hifazat activists) are respectful to the religion, Please leave (Motijheel),” senior leader Mohammad Nasim told a press conference on Sunday night.
The press conference took place within five hours of Awami League’s General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam asking the organisation to leave the place.
The BNP had lent support to the cause of the organisation and its chief Khaleda Zia asked her supporters to rally around the Hifazat men.
Created on 6 May 2013 at 01:31
Jamaat among Hefazat, AL with police
Tribune Online Report Politics
http://www.dhakatribune.com/politics/2013/may/06/jamaat-among-hefazat-al-police
Jamaat-Shibir activists on the front line in running battles with the police
Jamaat-Shibir activists have been spotted among Hefazat-e-Islam supporters
Photo- Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
Jamaat-Shibir activists have been seen among rampaging Hefazat-e-Islam supporters and have been directly involved in clashes with law enforcers.
Our correspondent, quoting witnesses, says, armed cadres of Jamaat-i-Islami and its student wing Shibir, were seen after 10pm at Purana Paltan, Motijheel, Bijoy Nagar and Arambagh, congregating with weapons. Some Jamaat central leaders were also seen among them.
On condition of anonymity, a central Hefazat leader also admitted that Jamaat activists participated in the siege in different parts of the city.
Witnesses allege Jamaat-Shibir activists were seen carrying fire arms.
Earlier during the day, witnesses alleged Jamaat-Shibir activists vandalised vehicles, set shops and other public and private property ablaze, and were engaged in clashes with police.
Pointing at a group of agitated activists, a tea-stall owner said: “We know them. They are Jamaat and Shibir men living in Purana Paltan and adjacent areas.”
Meanwhile, Awami League and Chhatra League activists were seen with police personnel attacking the Hefazat men. In many areas of the city AL and BCL activists checked vehicles and locked in skirmishes with opposition supporters. In the Shahbagh area, BCL men took up position with sticks and firearms.
