BNP-led 18-party alliance called dawn-to-dusk hartal for May 8 and May 9 protesting what they said ‘killing of innocent Alems of Hefajat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB) in a massacre at Shapla Square in Motijheel by the law enforcers’. The decision to enforce the hartal was taken at a meeting of the alliance, chaired by the BNP chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia.Briefing the media after the meeting, Sadek Hossain Khoka president of Dhaka city unit BNP, claimed that international news media like CNN and Al jazeera reported that around 2500 persons were killed during the ‘massacre’.
He said that though the HIB activists were staying at the Shapla Square peacefully, law enforcers carried out the attack to disperse them in a planned manner.
“If the government can help Ganajagaron activists to occupy Shahbagh Square, why it did not allow the HIB activists to remain peacefully at the Shapla square. Are not these innocent Alems are the sons of this soil?” he asked.
On Tuesday, the 18 party alliance will hold Gayebana Janaja across the country to pray for the eternal peace of the people killed during the HIB blockade Earlier, at a press conference BNP standing committee member MK Anwar said.
“What happened in Dhaka on Sunday was a repetition of the dark night of March 25, 1971,” influential central leader of BNP MK Anwar told a news conference following a joint meeting of the 18-party alliance at the party headquarters.
Anwar claimed: “Members of the law enforcement agencies as well as the armed cadres of the ruling party opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar killing hundreds of people on the spot”.
The BNP leader said that the exact casualty figure at the Shapla Chattar is unclear at this time but “we are sure that bodies of hundreds of protesters have been dumped secretly.” The detailed facts and figures will be made public in the next few days, he added.
He compared Sunday’s incident in Dhaka with the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre in India in 1919. Anwar severely criticised the banning of two private television channels – Diganta and Islamic TV and said the government did it in a bid to prevent the broadcast of what he called the “heinous and inhuman” activities of the law enforcers. By suddenly banning the two television channels of the country, the Awami League government once again demonstrated its BAKSAL-era attitude by gagging the mass media, the senior BNP leader said.
Anwar further alleged that the ruling party armed cadres have launched attacks on Qaumi Madrasa across the country and resorted to repression on innocent students of Islamic educational institutions. “On Monday morning, a group of ruling party armed forces launched attack on a madrasa at Sidhirganj and killed at least 25 innocent students without any instigation,” the BNP leader claimed.
Referring to BNP’s 48-hour ultimatum to the government for an announcement on a non-party caretaker government (CG), he said the Awami League-led grand alliance outright rejected the demand for CG.
Briefly speaking at the press conference, Sadek Hossain Khoka, also the convenor of the Dhaka city unit of BNP said the government is planning to hang on to power by arranging a farcical general election under its own management.
“We, the nationalist forces will force the government to refrain from holding any such election at any cost,” he threatened.
The ground under the feet of the government is now quite shaky and that is why it is now resorting to repressive measures against its political opponents one after another, he said adding that the government won’t be allowed to continue what it’s been doing against the opposition.
-With The Independent input
