Police, BNP men clash near press club
A clash occurred between BNP activists and police in front of the city's Jatiya Press Club yesterday around noon during BNP's protest against the decision to revoke the gallantry award given to late president Ziaur Rahman.
Police claimed at least 10 of their members were injured during the clash while BNP said 119 of its members were injured "in police attack."
Witnesses said several hundred protestors started gathering in front of the Jatiya Press Club around 10:00am and started a rally with huge police presence nearby.
Several senior leaders of BNP, including Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, and Amanullah Aman, joined the rally organised by Dhaka south and north city units jointly as part of the party's countrywide programme in all cities.
The rally was being held peacefully for nearly two hours, with BNP men blocking the road in front of the club.
But they became locked in altercation at the end of the rally when BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain was speaking, when law enforcers requested them to vacate one lane of the the road after 12:00pm to facilitate traffic movement, witnesses said.
At one stage, BNP activists scuffled with police, prompting the law enforcers to go into an action on the protesters.
Protestors threw brick chips at police while law enforcers charged baton on them.
Many BNP protestors, including some central leaders, took shelter inside Jatiya Press Club during the clash. They left the spot after the situation returned to normalcy around 1:00pm.
Mamunur Rashid, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station, said so far they have detained 18 people from in front of Press Club and nearby areas after the clash.
At Dhaka Medical College Hospital, a policeman and at least 12 BNP men took treatment, sources at the hospital said.
Meanwhile, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi blamed police for the clash.
He alleged that police members' attack on BNP's peaceful rally was pre-planned. The police behaved desperately and acted like criminal cadres, he said at a press conference later in the day.
Earlier, on Thursday, the party announced a two-day demonstration programme protesting what it said an "evil effort" to repeal party founder Ziaur Rahman's Bir Uttam gallantry title.
BNP's all-district units are also scheduled to stage demonstrations across the country today.
The Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka) at a meeting on Tuesday discussed the ways to revoke the gallantry title of Ziaur Rahman for "violating" the constitution and "abetting" the self-proclaimed killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in escaping the country.
The meeting also agreed to repeal the then state-given awards to Bangabandhu's four convicted killers.
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