The line-up of 12 Islamist and moderate political groups, which enforced the 30-hour general strike from Sunday morning, is going to hold a fresh spate of demonstrations across the country on Friday in protest against what it terms brutal torture of ulema, or Muslim scholars and clergymen, carried out on Sunday.
The combine will also bring out a procession on the day from Baitul Mukarram National Mosque after the juma prayers.
The 12-party line-up at a post-strike news briefing on Monday announced the protest programme against the alleged brutal torture of ulema on Sunday, which, it claimed, left more than 1,500 people injured and over 2,000 demonstrators arrested across the country.
Senior leaders of the combine also threatened to launch tougher programmes including a general strike for indefinite period, if the government did not reinstate the phrase – absolute faith and trust in Allah – in the Constitution.
Khelafat Andolan amir Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf at the briefing brushed aside the prime minister's claim of retaining 'bismillah' in the Constitution, saying, 'If any one does not have "absolute faith and trust in Allah", he will lose iman and there will be no result if a be-iman [non-believer] recites bismillah a thousand times.'
He said, 'We will not return home without realising our demands.'
Asked whether the 12-party line-up would take the shape of an electoral alliance, Ahmadullah said, 'Time will decide our course of action. But, whoever supports our demand, we will be with them.'
The second day of the 30-hour general strike ended Monday noon without any untoward incident in the capital or elsewhere in the country, following incidents of fierce violence on Sunday at different places.
The combine composed of Khelafat Majlis, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Sammilita Ulema Mashaikh Parishad, National Democratic Party, Islami Oikya Andolan, Bangladesh Muslim League, Bangladesh National Awami Party, National Awami Party (Bhasani), Jatiya Ganatantrik Party, Islamic Party, and Nezame Islam Party called the country-wide general strike on June 30, immediately after the passage of the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Bill in protest against the replacement of the phrase – absolute faith and trust in Allah – with 'secularism' and 'socialism' in the Constitution.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh on Saturday pulled out of the combine and called a separate strike for Sunday. It however was replaced in the grouping by Islami Oikya Jote, an ally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh from a separate news briefing also threatened to enforce a nonstop general strike, if the government did not meets its demands. The party amir, Syed Rezaul Karim, also the pir of Charmonai, said their activists had carried clubs on Sunday in the face of attacks and to protect themselves.
The pir claimed nine activists of the party had remained missing since Sunday midnight after being picked up by people who claimed to be members of the Detective Branch of police. But, none of them has been taken to any police station or produced before any court, he said.
In the final six hours of the 30-hour strike, the life in the capital had become almost normal, with a good number of vehicles plying the streets and shops remaining open, while no picket of the Islamist groups was seen amid a strict vigilance of the law enforcement agencies.
The police in riot gears riding small vehicles ruled the Dhaka streets since dawn. They especially patrolled the lanes and alleys where madrassahs and offices of the strike-enforcers are located.
They were seen to keep vigil at Sat Gambuj Masjid, Lalbagh Fort, and Kamrangir Char and the madrassahs in those areas. A huge number of police were deployed at Kanchpur and Fatullah of Narayanganj and Keraniganj of Dhaka, where pickets had clashed with the police on the previous day.
The students of the Jamia Rahmania at Mohammadpur and the Jamia Qurania Arabia at Lalbagh were seen preparing for examinations. The central office of Khelafat Andolan at Lalbagh was empty, except for a youth sleeping inside, while a contingent of police was sitting idle outside the building.
No picketing by the 12-party combine was seen at any place. A few of its activists were seen reading newspapers in the office of Khelafat Majlis, the liaison office of the combine.
Movement of vehicles including cars and microbuses on different city streets became normal after 9:00am. Even the inter-district buses started leaving the city terminals for their destinations, while trains, launches and flights also operated on schedule.
However, panic prevailed in Madaninagar and Kanchpur areas following Sunday's fierce clashes between the strike-supporters and ruling party men backed up by the police. As a result, vehicular traffic at Jatrabari and on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway was thinner than other city areas and roads and fewer buses and CNG-run three-wheelers plied the streets in Madaninagar and Kanchpur.
A large number of law-enforcers including members of the Rapid Action Battalion and the police patrolled the highway, streets, and alleys in Jatrabari area.
A group of people under the banner of an organisation of transport workers brought out an anti-strike procession from Shimrail truck stand of Kanchpur at around 9:30am and marched different thoroughfares of the area, chanting slogans against the strike.
Source : New Age
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