Police have filed a case under the draconian Anti-Terrorism Act against 16 people, who came under attack by a Jamaat-NCP mob on Thursday morning for holding a discussion of the Moncho-71 platform on the Constitution and the 1971 Liberation War at DRU.
The accused include journalist Monjurul Alam Panna, former Awami League leader Abdul Latif Siddique, Dhaka University teacher Prof. Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Curzon, and 13 others.
After the attack, which left 18 injured, police appeared on the scene and detained the guests and organisers of the event.
Around 11pm, Shahbagh police filed the case.
ZI Khan Panna, freedom fighter, senior Supreme Court lawyer and one of the founders of the Moncho-71 platform, condemned the attack and blamed the Yunus regime. He also asked everyone to unite against the anti-liberation forces.
ZI Khan Panna: Itโs high time we unite against anti-liberation forces
NCP, Jamaat-Shibir foil Moncho-71 event on Constitution, Liberation War
โWe are not willing to compromise with the 1971 independence, the 1972 constitution, the national flag, and the national anthem. Freedom fighters unite, now is the last time to unite,โ the valiant freedom fighter said in a Facebook live, calling on the freedom fighters to unite on the issues of the Liberation War, the 1972 Constitution, the national anthem and the national flag.
Earlier in the morning, at least 18 guests, including Dhaka University teachers and journalists, were injured in a mob attack by Jamaat-NCP members. Later, they handed 16 people over to the police.
Gono Forum Emeritus President Dr Kamal Hossain was slated to attend as the chief guest. But he did not show up.
Dhaka University Law Departmentโs Professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman spoke first. He said: โWe are seeing attempts to throw away the countryโs constitution. Behind this are Jamaat-Shibir and the National Citizen Party (NCP).โ
Right after his speech, a group of people entered the DRU auditorium in a procession, chanting slogans such as โLet the spirit of July rise againโ, โCatch the League, fill the jailsโ, and โJuly fighters, unite and fight.โ
The agitators called themselves the July Warriors and chanted slogans against Siddique during the captivity. They also tore the banner of the discussion and assaulted other guests and attendees.
Attackers identified
The Crack Platoon-Bangladesh Cyberforce Team has identified the mastermind of the attack as Jamaat-e-Islamโs Paltan Unit Ameer Shahin Ahmed Khan. It has also collected all kinds of financial and communication information, including family information, data obtained from digital devices and recent bKash transactions of some of the participants in this incident!
Under the leadership of Shahin Ahmed, others who participated in the attack were Sakibul Hasan Chowdhury (father Abdul Shahid Chowdhury, mother Sitara Begum) of Kulaura, Moulvibazar; Imam Uddin Baba (father Jamal Uddin) of Feni; Fahad Sarkar (father Md. Amdadul Sarkar) of Cumilla; and Md. Aminul Islam (father Azadul Islam, mother Husne Ara Begum) of Cumilla.
In a statement issued in the evening, DRU strongly condemned the attack, saying its members were harassed while trying to stop the group.
DRU President Abu Saleh Akon and General Secretary Mainul Hasan Sohel urged action, calling the incident “unacceptable.”
The Communist Party of Bangladesh said in a statement that the “mob violence by the July Fighters at an event on the Liberation War” was condemnable.
“In reality, they are obstructing the 2024 uprising’s democratic aspirations. They must be prevented,” CPB President Mohammad Shah Alam and General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince said in the statement.
Mahmudul Hasan Manik and Nur Ahmad Bakul, acting president and acting general secretary of the Bangladesh Workers Party, also condemned the attack. In a statement, they demanded the immediate release of Siddique and others, blaming the government for failing to prevent unlawful mob violence.
Prof Anu Muhammad, in a Facebook post, termed the incident “fascist violence” and criticised the government’s inaction.
He wrote, “Whenever the topic of Liberation War or freedom fighters comes up, some people get provoked. Yet, police take the victims, not the mobsters, into custody. Without government support, such incidents could not continue one after another.”
He urged the authorities to stop shielding the perpetrators.
English
The victims of terrorist mob attack became the accused of terrorist activities! Utterly disgusting abuse of law under the regime of Yunus. When the Chief of a country is a promoter of terrorism, it’s the inevitable fate of the people who wants to save the country from the terrorists.
Any veterans and liberation war fighters are the most respected people of their society across the world except in Bangladesh. If Bangladesh was a civilized country, the Yunus-led government had no chance to continue their rule. However, it is Bangladesh and the people here don’t have the guts to throw away such nasty rulers. Bangladesh have to suffer the consequences of such atrocities because it is the people of Bangladesh who are tolerating this nonsense day after day.