Part of capital Dhaka turned into veritable inferno during the Dhaka siege programme of the radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam, Bangladesh (HIB) on Sunday as HIB activists fought pitched battles with the law enforcers and ruling party activists throughout the day leaving at least four people dead and over 100 including journalists and cops injured. Tens of thousands of HIB activists blocked six entry points of the capital which was virtually cut off from the rest of the country during the blockade. HIB supremo Allama Shah Ahmed Shafi in a statement at 9.30 pm directed the HIB activists to continue their sit – in at Shapla Square at Motejheel until the materialisation of their 13-point demand that included the arrest of the atheist bloggers.
Police and RAB members fired several thousand of rubber bullets, lobbed hundreds of teargas shells and threw scores of sound grenades during the clash to disperse the HIB activists who were hurling handmade bombs and brickbats at the law enforcers during the clash.
A group of people vandalised Rangs Bhaban at Purana Paltan and set KFC food court, CPB central party office and several roadside book shops near the CPB office on fire during the clashes.
Witnesses said miscreants set fire to a police box at Shantinagar around 6:20 pm while another at Mouchak at about 6:25 pm.
A police Pajero jeep was set afire at Mouchak around 6:25 pm while a bus and a bulldozer at Malibagh crossing around 6:20 pm.
Seven BRTC buses and two buses were set on fire at Malibagh level-crossing area in the evening.
At least 15 vehicles were set alight around the Bangabandhu National Stadium in the evening.
Lampposts on the streets from Shantinagar to Mouchak were also vandalised by the miscreants.
Two minibuses were also torched near the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and at Purana Paltan during the mayhem.
A gas pipeline near the Bangabandhu National stadium was set afire around 4:45pm.
The DC traffic office (East Zone) in Purana Paltan was also torched during the clashes at the same time.
The clash took place when thousands of HIB activists marched towards the Shapla Square in the capital, the venue for the post blockade rally.
It started at Paltan square at around 10 am and continued till the filing of the report at 9 pm causing panic among the city dwellers. During the clash several dozens of vehicles including three police vans were put on fire by the pro-blockade elements.
The blockade supporters at one stage attacked the central office of the Awami League at Bangabandhu Avenue but left the area when law enforcers lobbed tear shells and fired rubber bullets at them.
At around 2 pm a handmade bomb exploded near the Baitul Mokarram mosque igniting fresh clash when unruly HIB activists put several buildings in Paltan area including CPB office, House Building Finance Corporation office, and Rangs building on fire.
During this time dozens of vehicles, parked in the basement of some of the buildings were vandalised by the HIB activists.
During the blockade vehicles almost disappeared from the city’s bustling streets. Many were seen walking back home.
One of the deceased was identified as Siddiqur Rahman Siddique, 28, helper of a bus of ‘Hanif Paribahan’. The other, a Hefazat man, could not be identified yet.
Witnesses said a group of Hefazat men were staying on the southern side of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque around 1:30pm. Another group of the ruling Awami League workers were also staying in front of their central office on Bangabandhu Avenue at that time.
A chase and counter-chase followed between the workers of the two organisations as they brought out their processions. Police fired several hundred gunshots and 12 teargas shells to bring the situation under control.
Helper Siddique, injured in the firing, was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead. Nahid, 26, an employee of Gulistan Hawker’s market and another unidentified Hefazat worker was also killed in a clash with ruling party men. Kamal Uddin Ahmed, 55, General manager of Desh General insurance of Dilkhusha of Motijheel died of cardiac arrest on the premises of the Baitul Mukarram mosque during the clash. He was coming out of the mosque after saying his prayer.
The injured were admitted to different hospitals and private clinics.
Another triangular clash involving police, the Hefazat workers and the ruling party men began at the same place at 3pm and later it spread to Purana Paltan, Gulistan, Bijoynagar, Kakrail and Press Club areas.
The sporadic clashes were going on in those areas till filing of this report at about 7pm.
At about 5:30pm, 15 people, including 10 cops, were injured in a clash between police and the Hefazat workers near Nayabazar in the city.
Meanwhile, seven people, including a Rab member, were hurt in separate clashes between law enforcers and workers of Hefajat-e-Islam in the city earlier on Sunday.
Three vehicles, including two police bikes, were also torched allegedly by the Hefazat activists during the clashes.
Three people, including a Rab member, were injured in a clash between the Hefazat activists and law enforces near Motijheel Hockey Stadium at about 10:30am.
The three injured were identified as Rab member Golam Rabbani, bus driver of Raja City Paribahan Sobhan and his helper Dulal. Witnesses said the Hefazat activists torched a bus of the Paribahan in the area at about 10:30am, injuring two workers of the bus.
Rab member Golam Rabbani was injured when a group of law enforces came under attack by the Hefejat men as they went to resist the activists during the attack on the bus.
In another incident, two police bikes were torched near the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque as the Hefazat men in a procession were marching towards the Shapla Chattar in the capital at about 12:30pm.
Witnesses said hundreds of activists of the organization were marching towards the Shapla Chattar to attend a rally there. When they were passing by the National Mosque, police obstructed them.
Being obstructed, the Hefazat activists threw brick chips targeting police, resulting in a clash between them.
Chanting “Allahu Akbar!” (“God is greatest!”) and “One point, One demand: Atheists must be hanged”, HIB activists took control of the six entry points of the capital early in the halting traffic between Dhaka and other cities and towns.
However both the clashes at Paltan area and the HIB rally at Shapla Square were on simultaneously and till 9 pm thousands of HIB activists were waiting for the directives of the HIB supremo Allama Ahmed Shafi.
Frequently the HIB activists were found excited hearing the news of the clash and sought permission to join the clash but they remained in the venue as the HIB leaders repeatedly urged them not to leave the venue.
In their speeches the HIB leaders came down heavily on the Awami league general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam for his call to HIB activist to leave the capital by evening.
HIB leaders in their speech said that Syed Ashraf would not find the way to flee the country if the HIB demands were not met.
They also said that the government had no right to remain in power as they ordered the police to open fire at the HIB activists.
They said that none of the HIB activists was involved in any kind of violent activities and they were observing their programme peacefully.
They demanded capital punishment for the leaders of the Shabgah protesters including Imran H Sarker and Shahriar kabir terming them as athiests.
Allama Shafi was scheduled to attend the venue in the afternoon but he could not reach the venue due to the ongoing clash around the venue due to security reasons.
Denouncing police actions on his followers, Hefajat-e-Islam Bangladesh ameer Allama Shah Ahmed Shafi in his statement said their ‘peaceful’ sit-in at the capital’s Shapla Chattar will continue until the 13-point demand is met.
In a press statement, Shafi also urged the government to accept their 13-point demand without creating any confrontational situation.
The statement claimed that three Hefajat activists were killed and over 300 injured in the brutal attacks by police and ruling parry cadres on their way to join the Shapla Chattar rally after peacefully observing their Dhaka siege programme.
Strongly deploring and protesting the incident, Shafi said the government will not be able to resist the Hefazat movement by resorting to repressive acts, the statement added.
However, the Hefazat ameer did not turn up in the rally due to ‘security reasons’.
Though according to police estimate, around 200,000 attended the rally at Motijheel, HIB leaders claimed over half a million joined the rally.
The rally was the latest in a series of mass mobilisations by Hefajat.
On April 6, HIB organised a grand rally of hundreds of thousands of its activists, in what experts said was the country’s largest political gathering in decades.
-With The Independent input
