Release of Hasina, Khaleda demanded

A human chain was formed in front of the Chittagong Press Club yesterday under the banner of ‘We are the people of Chittagong’ demanding release of Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.Photo: STAR

Over 50 people covering their faces with black clothes formed a brief human chain in front of the Chittagong Press Club yesterday demanding immediate release of former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia and BNP leaders Tarique Rahman and Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and withdrawal of emergency.
The demonstrators, however, hurriedly left the scene before the police stepped in.
Two or three unidentified people also addressed the 10-minute gathering held under the banner of Amra Chattagram Basi' (we are the people of Chittagong) and 'Amra Fatikchhari Basi' (we are the people of Fatikchhari).
Sources, however, suspect the demonstrators are loyal to SQ Chowdhury.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) officials said it was a clear violation of Emergency Power Rules (EPR) as the demonstrators didn't have any prior permission to hold such programmes.
"We are looking into the matter and trying to identify the violators of the EPR before taking any legal action," said Ashikul Haq Bhuiyan, assistant commissioner of the detective branch of police.
He said the demonstration was sudden and brief, and the demonstrators just ran away before the police reached the scene.
Witnesses said around 50 or 60 youths, all covering their faces with black clothes, suddenly appeared in front of the press club at around 11:45am with banners and posters of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ziaur Rahman, Shiekh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, and formed a human chain.
In the afternoon, the demonstrators sent a set of three press releases to newspaper offices here, claiming that 'Amra Chattagram Mahanagar Basi', 'Amra Chattagram Uttar Jela Basi' and 'Amra Chattagram Dakshin Jela Basi' had held the demonstration. Abu Sufian Babla, Sree Rana Das and Rabi Chakrabarty signed the press releases separately.
A source at the CMP said, "We believe the demonstration was mainly aimed at demanding the release of SQ Chowdhury and the names they used in the press releases are fake.”