As the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB) began its planned siege on Dhaka after the Fajr prayers on Sunday, the capital was virtually cut off from the rest of the country. Thousands of HIB activists hit the roads at six entry points of the capital – from Abdullahpur to Tongi Bridge, Gabtoli Mazar Road to Aminbazar Bridge, Babu Bazar Bridge, Demra Bridge, Kanchpur Bridge and Postagola Bridge shortly before dawn. Armed with sticks, the HIB supporters were seen carrying different flags, including the national flag, while some recited verses from the Holy Quran.
Biscuits, puffed rice, bananas, cucumber, dates and water were distributed among the demonstrators. There was no untoward incident during the programme.
Hundreds of law-enforcing agencies, including police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), were deployed at the entry points and other strategic areas to maintain law and order. Thousands of people took part in the huge assembly from Gabtoli to Savar. The supporters sat on the Mazar Road where local HIB leaders delivered speeches seeking implementation of their 13-point demands.
In Gabtoli, the HIB supporters started gathering from early in the morning to take part in the processions from Mohammadpur, Adabar, Mirpur, Savar, Manikganj and adjacent areas. The long-route buses were stopped at Boliarpur, on the capital’s outskirts, causing severe hardships to commuters who later had to reach the capital on foot. No bus was allowed to leave the Gabtoli terminal. However, the vehicles of law-enforcing agencies, journalists, ambulance and vehicles carrying out Savar rescue operation were allowed to ply.
The HIB supporters raised slogans demanding capital punishment for the ‘atheist’ bloggers who maligned the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). There were public address systems on makeshift podiums erected on trucks at Gabtoli, north Abdullahpur, Jatrabari, Babubazar Postagola, Narayanganj and Savar’s Aminbazar.
In the Abdullahpur area, a huge procession attempted to enter downtown Dhaka in the morning, but police stopped them as they didn’t have permission to hold the rally in the heart of the capital’s Shapla Chattar.
Hefazat supporters, carrying national flags, lined up between Uttara North Tower and Tongi Bridge immediately after Fazr prayers, bringing traffic to a complete halt. Around 11 am, the Chittagong-based Islamists were given permission to hold a rally at 3pm at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar.
Vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet Road was suspended at Jatrabari and Demra points. No vehicles from outside could enter the city. Despite the presence of a huge police contingent, road links to Narayanganj and Mawa ferry terminal had been blocked.
About 50 Hefazat supporters assembled on the Babubazar bridge after Fazr prayers but their numbers swelled to a thousand within an hour. They stopped vehicles from both sides of the bridge.
The Hefazat men first blocked traffic on the Buriganga bridge. As a result, traffic movement towards the southern part of the country, including Keraniganj, Dohar, Nababganj, Munshiganj, Faridpur and Khulna, was disrupted.
Defying the morning rain, the Hefazat supporters continued their blockade. They brought out processions from different mosques and madrasas at 7am and marched to the second Buriganga bridge area. At Nayabazar, police had set up barricades to prevent the Hefazat supporters from reaching Dhaka.
The supporters, carrying national flags and black flags, were stopped at the Chittagong Road at Jatrabari and in the Signboard area, the entry points of the capital.
Traffic came to a halt at the Dhaka-Chittagong highway near the Signboard area and also on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway after Hefazat supporters, brandishing national flags and sticks, positioned themselves at Gazipur.
Even though offices were open, very few people were out on the streets. However, most of the offices were shut down around 11 am after the Hefazat was granted permission for the Motijheel rally.
The Hefazat leaders reiterated that their rally was neither aimed at dislodging the government, nor was it targeted to install another party in power. The programmes were held to force the government to accept their 13-point demand, they said.
-With The Independent input
