After widespread clashes with the law enforcers across Bangladesh on Friday, 12 Islamist and like-minded parties called a country-wide shutdown for Sunday alleging police obstructions to their programme. The platform’s leader Amir Ahmedullah Ashraf said they had announced peaceful agitation programmes after Juma prayers protesting against what he termed were “indecent remarks by bloggers about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)”.
“Police barred them and detained our activists. Incidents of injuries and deaths have been reported,” added Ashraf, also Nayeb-e-Ameer of Khelafat Andolan.
“We will observe a daylong shutdown on Sunday protesting against the incidents.”
Khelafat Andolan’s Organising Secretary Fakhrul Islam said they will hold agitation programmes on Monday.Radicals went berserk in capital Dhaka after the afternoon prayers and clashed with the law enforcers.
Similar clashes also took place in various districts including Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi. Ganajagaran Manchas in the port city and Sylhet were also attacked. Suspected Jamaat-e-Islami activists vandalised the Sylhet Central Shaheed Minar.bdnews24.com
The demonstrators of the Ganajagaran Mancha started converging at Shahbagh on Friday afternoon as the news of the attacks spread.
Over a thousand people thronged Shahbagh in just 15 minutes.
A group of Dhaka University students again blocked vehicular movement in the key intersection around 5:30pm. Hundreds of demonstrators, led by Imran Sarker, came to the Ganajagaran Mancha around 5:45pm.
Pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League General Secretary Siddiqui Nazmul Alam was also seen with them.bdnews24.com
Meanwhile a procession was brought out chanting slogans to resist Sunday’s hartal called by Islamists.
