Several activists of the Ganajagaran Manch, including its spokesperson Imran H Sarker, have been injured when police charged baton to stop their procession that was taken out demanding suspension of diplomatic ties with Pakistan.Police also detained five of the Manch activists from the spot but they were released later, said Gulshan Police Station OC Rafiqul Islam.
Police charged baton when the activists tried to enter the diplomatic enclave on Gulshan-2 on Thursday afternoon after the expiry of the 20-hour ultimatum Manch had issued to the government to suspend the ties with Pakistan.
Police tried to disperse the Manch activists when they sat beneath Taher Tower on Gulshan-2 shortly after 3pm. This led to a scuffle.
Police had pushed the marchers and charged baton in a bid to evict them from the area.
Another bout of scuffle ensued when police tried to detain Manch spokesperson Imran H Sarker.
Many marchers were seen running away at the time.
Police detained Rowshan Ara Nipa, Aranya Azad and Mahmudul Hassan and took them to Banani Police Station, said bdnews24.com correspondent Faizul Siddiqui.
Twenty minutes later, police stopped the Manch activists when Imran H Sarker assembled them and tried to announce an agitation beneath Taher Tower.
Several people including Imran H Sarker and freedom fighter Abul Kalam Azad were injured in the baton charge.
They were initiually admitted to Labaid Hospital and later shifted to United Hospital, said Ganajagaran Manch coordinator Maruf Rasul.
Police charged baton on the Manch activists for the third time when they were chanting slogans near Labaid Hospital.
An activist Shammi Akhtar was detained at the time.
Imran H Sarker before going to the hospital told journalists that police had attacked their procession and injured many activists, including females, without any provocation.
A man inspired with the spirit of the Liberation War could not attack on innocent people in that manner, he said.
Imran vowed to occupy the area defying all attacks.
He said he would announce the next agitation from there.
“Many tried to save the Pakisani force even earlier and are doing the same now. We will continue the agitation until our demand is met. The people will not accept the saviours of Pakistan.”
He announced that they would continue their ‘Ahimsa’ or nonviolence movement until the government sever ties with Pakistan or Pakistan formally seeks forgiveness.
Md Shahabuddin Khan, official of crime and operations division at Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told bdnews24.com however denied any use of force against the marchers.
The marchers have been removed only, he said.
Denying the allegation of baton charge, the police official said if it had happened at all it was unintentional.
“Their agitation could disrupt law and order. Since it is a diplomatic enclave we have removed them from the area for the sake of safety,” he said.
DMP Gulshan zone Deputy Commissioner Khandkar Lutful Kabir said, “Rallies and processions are banned in the diplomatic enclave according to the Vienna Convention. That’s why the activists of Ganajagaran Manch have been removed from there.”
He, however, could not say how many activists had been detained.
The Manch is protesting against a resolution Pakistan National Assembly had adopted on Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla’s hanging for his crimes against humanity in 1971 that include murder.
The Manch came into existence after Molla got a life sentence in the war crimes trial, which many in Bangladesh felt was too lenient. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court later revised the sentence to death penalty. – bdnews24.com
