Tension mounted in the bordering Ramkhana village in Nageshwari of Kurigram as the local unit of Awami League has called a programme at the venue where some BNP leaning freedom fighters and intellectuals are scheduled to hold a rally today in protest at the killing of Felani, a teenage girl, by the Indian border guards.
The local administration ordered a ban on gatherings in and around Felani’s house for today fearing trouble. The Kurigram superintendent of police, Mahbubur Rahman, said the administration was imposing section 144 in the area for Wednesday as Awami League and BNP called rallies at the same venue. A sector commander in the war of independence, Hamidullah Khan, and some other intellectuals, including writer Abdul Hye Sikder and Muktijuddher Prajanma leader Shama Obaid are scheduled to address a rally at Ramkhana Rahmania Madrassah today under the banner of Patriots of Bangladesh to register protest at the killing of Felani and denounce the government’s indifference to the repeated killings of Bangladeshi civilians by the Indian Border Security Force.
The local unit of Chhatra League has called a rally at the same venue for today without giving any reason for the programme.
The officer-in-charge of Nageshwari police, Monzur Rahman, told New Age that the administration was going to impose section 144 on the venue for Wednesday to avert trouble.
The Kurgram district unit BNP has extended support to the programme announced by Patriots of Bangladesh.
The general secretary of the district BNP, Saifur Rahman Rana, said local administration had taken away the public address system when they were drumming up support for the scheduled rally.
Felani’s father Nurul Islam could not be reached by anybody since home minister Sahara Khatun visited the family of the slain girl on February 7.
On January 7, Indian BSF shot dead 15-year-old Felani when she was crossing into Bangladesh from the Indian state of West Bengal.
Local lawmakers AKM Mostafizur Rahman and Zafar Ali, home secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, inspector general of police Hasan Mahmud Khandaker and the Border Guard Bangladesh director general Major General Rafiqul Islam, among others, visited the family of Felani.
