Politicians give mixed reactions

Awami League leader Masum with his shotgun in Lalkhan Bazar area of Chittagong city on Monday. File Photo

Politicians have expressed mixed reactions to reports of an Awami League leader brandishing a firearm when Hefajat-e Islam's Monday hartal was under way in Chittagong city.
Some described the open demonstration of firearms as a bad omen for politics, while others said a person had the right to use his licensed gun in self-defence.
Diderul Alam Masum, acting general secretary of AL Chittagong city's Lalkhan Bazar ward unit, was seen brandishing a shotgun in the hartal photos of  different newspapers. Masum said, "I felt embarrassed to see the pictures." He claimed his gun to be licensed and that he "brandished it in self-defence". Masum also said he only fired blank shots.
On Monday, about 100 AL and pro-AL men were holding an anti-hartal rally at Ispahani intersection, about a quarter mile from Wasa intersection where Hefajat men were demonstrating.
At one stage, some 500 Hefajat followers with machetes and sticks arrived at Ispahani point and asked the AL men to leave the place. When they refused, the Hefajat men attacked the AL men, initiating a clash, which left about 14 injured, seven of them with bullets.
Masum told The Daily Star, “When they besieged us, I took out my licensed gun from my car and fired four blank shots to save my life and the lives of my political mates.”
BNP Chittagong city unit President Ameer Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury termed the incident of wielding a firearm in the street "the worst signal for politics". Common people are scared to see the “AL cadres with firearms” in the thoroughfares, he said on Tuesday.
AL Chittagong city unit General Secretary Enamul Haque Danu said, “We do not want the use of any firearm in the street. We want peaceful coexistence with other political parties.
“But, if someone comes under attack, he has every right to defend himself and if he has a licensed gun, he has the right to use it in self-defence,” he told The Daily Star.
AL lawmaker and Chittagong city unit Vice President Nurul Islam BSc said, "It is a crime to brandish firearms". Police should investigate whether the gun was licensed, he added.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said, “We have confirmed that the gun was licensed for Masum. Now we are probing whether the firearm was used for self-defence or attack.” Legal action will follow investigation, he said.
Advocate Mahbubul Alam, former general secretary of Chittagong District Bar Association, said if a person was guilty of using his licensed gun for "intimidation and attack" other than defending his life, the district administration could strip him of the licence.
In the case of the unauthorised use of a licensed gun in killing and injuring anyone, legal action can be taken against the gun owner under the penal code, he told The Daily Star.