report in The Daily Star, Dec 31, 2022
The BNP and like-minded political parties have begun their simultaneous demonstrations with the former organising a large procession in the capital yesterday afternoon.
Activists of the like-minded parties also organised processions in different parts of the city.
The BNP and the other parties announced that they would hold a sit-in programme on January 11 in Dhaka and the other divisional cities to press home their 10-point demand that includes the government’s resignation and the next general election under a non-partisan interim government.
In Mouchak and Paltan areas yesterday, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas shells to disperse Jamaat processions.
Police detained 11 peopleuntil the evening and said 10 policemen were injured in the clashes.
The BNP held a rally in Nayapaltan before the procession. BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the sit-in demonstrations would be held for four hours.
The programme in Dhaka will be held in front of the BNP’s Nayapaltan headquarters.
BNP leaders said the programme was announced on January 11 keeping in mind the incident of January 11, 2007.
BNP’s procession started around 3:30pm from Nayapaltan and ended at Moghbazar intersection around 5:30pm. The party’s standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy delivered the windup speech at Moghbazar intersection.
The BNP also held a procession in Rangpur city.
At the Nayapaltan rally, Mosharraf said BNP’s peaceful demonstrations, joined by tens of thousands of people, were lauded locally and internationally.
“This government will be ousted through a mass uprising. It is not possible to stop our movement with attacks,” he said, adding that programmes to unseat the government will be announced in phases.
Although the rally was scheduled to start at 2:00pm, BNP leaders and activists started gathering in Nayapaltan in the morning. By 12:00pm, the whole area was filled with the BNP supporters.
The head of the procession reached Kakrail intersection around 3:30pm. Hundreds upon hundreds of activists kept marching and the tail end of the procession could not be seen in Kakrail until 6:00pm.
Many of the activists were holding the national flag and their party flag. Others were holding pictures of arrested leaders and activists.
A huge number of law enforcers were deployed in Fakirapool and Moghbazar areas. Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), water cannons and prison buses were seen in large numbers.
The ruling Awami League leaders and activists took positions at different points of the capital including Shahbagh. The AL said their programme was to protest against the arson attacks and violence by BNP-Jamaat men.
JAMAAT-POLICE CLASHES
The clashes took place as police intercepted Jamaat processions after Juma prayers in Mouchak and Paltanareas.
Witnesses said a procession was coming towards Mouchak intersection from Malibagh level crossing when police stopped the activists and snatched away their banners.
“A group of people under the Jamaat-Shibir banner attacked police just after Juma prayers,” said Shah Mahmud, additional deputy commissioner of New Market Division, adding police then drove them away.
In Paltan, witnesses said a group of people were chanting slogans in an alley across the Baitul Mukarram mosque after Juma prayers when police fired bullets to disperse the crowd and detained a few men.
Salahuddin Mia, officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station, said, “We dispersed the crowd and detained three men.”
Besides, Ganatantra Mancha activists marched on Topkhana road near Jatiya Press Club while activists of Jatiyatabadi Samamona Dal, a 12-party alliance and the LDP also organised processions in the capital.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/minded-parties-join-bnps-showdown-3209006
AL holds rallies to show off strength in city
report in The Daily Star, Dec 31, 2022
Activists and leaders of the ruling Awami League and its associate bodies yesterday took position in different places of the city “to prevent any untoward incident” centring the BNP’s procession.
Since the morning, they were at nine key points, including Mirpur, Uttara, Shyamoli, Jatrabari and in front of AL Bangabandhu Avenue central office in Gulistan. They also held rallies there.
The AL men carried bamboo sticks and cricket stumps and were chanting anti-BNP slogans.
At Matshya Bhaban and the Jatiya Press Club areas, some were also seen checking mobile phones of people and asking queries like where they were going.
Their rallies were held simultaneously after Juma prayers. Thousands of activists joined them.
Speaking at a rally in Shyamoli, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the BNP is now going to foreign diplomats for statements in its favour.
“Those who are issuing statements [in favour of the BNP] are supporting murder, torture, looting, money laundering and corrupt politics of Tarique Rahman. They are lodging complaints with embassies, but no one can help them assume power except the people.”
Quader, also road transport and bridges minister, said, “The BNP destroyed the state, democracy and killed the spirit of the Liberation War.”
He termed the BNP’s procession a complete failure.
At another rally in front of AL central office on Bangabandhu Avenue, AL Joint General Secretary Hasan Mahmud, also information and broadcasting minister, said, “The way a snake sheds its skin continuously; the alliance of the BNP sheds its skins. Sometimes, there are 20 parties and 12 parties; now they say there are 33 parties [in the combine] … Except for a few parties, the rest are in name only.”
He added that their rallies were not for countering the BNP’s programme.
The AL leader said they were watchful so that the BNP could not create any instability, adding that they would remain on the streets until the next election.
Speaking there, AL Presidium Member Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya asked the party men to remain on the streets to save the lives and properties of the people from “BNP’s anarchy”.
The Dhaka city (south) unit AL held a “peace rally” at Jatrabari intersection where several thousand leaders and activists were present.
There AL Presidium Member AHM Khairuzzaman Liton said the BNP and their supporters could not accept the people’s enthusiasm over the metro rail. That is why the party is spreading propaganda against the government’s development, he said.
“Even after forging a combine with 130 parties, the BNP will not be able to do any harm to the Awami League,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chhatra League, pro-AL student organisation, held a brief rally near Shahbagh intersection, protesting the “BNP-Jamaat’s violence”.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/al-holds-rallies-show-strength-city-3208996
