‘Hefajat demands anti-constitutional’

Hundreds of youths bring out a flag procession in the capital rejecting ongoing shutdown called by Hefajat-e Islam on Monday. Photo: Palash Khan

Leaders of the Gonojagoron Mancha on Monday rejected the demands of Hefajat-e Islam terming those as anti-constitutional.

“The 13 demands of Hefajat totally go against our constitutional provisions. We can no way accept these,” Imran H Sarker, spokesperson of the Mancha, said at Central Shaheed Minar after a flag procession in the capital.

They brought out the procession from Shahbagh intersection, now popularly known as Projonmo Chattar, to oppose the ongoing shutdown called by Hefajat-e Islam.

Several hundred youths carrying national flags and wearing red and green dresses brought out the procession around 11:30am.

After reaching Rupashi Bangla Hotel, it U-turned to go the Central Shaheed Minar as the procesisonists chanted anti-Jamaat slogans.

The youths have been demanding for the death penalty of the war criminals.

The procession is a part of countrywide programme.

Imran H Sarker, spokesperson of Gonojagoron Mancha, announced the procession at a grand rally at Shahbagh intersection on Saturday.

The declaration came hot on the heels of the announcement of Hefajat-e to enforce a countrywide hartal for Monday.

The Islamists have been demanding death sentence for the youths of Gonojagoron Mancha, terming them as atheists.

They also claimed that the atheist bloggers of Shahbagh intersection posted several write-ups on social media defaming Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

The youths started demonstration, organised by Bloggers and Online Activists Network, on February 5 in the capital’s Shahbagh shortly after a war crimes tribunal awarded lifetime imprisonment to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah.

The demonstrators have been demanding death penalty to Mollah for his crimes against humanity that he committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.

The radical Islamist organisation Hefajat-e Islam called the shutdown protesting “government obstacles” to their Saturday’s rally to press home its 13-point demand including the death penalty to “atheist bloggers”.