The Awami League has condemned that police cordoned off the demolished Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32 on the orders of Shafiqul Alam, the press secretary to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, to prevent the commemoration of the Father of the Nation and implement Jamaati’s blueprint.
Talking to the media, Dhanmondi police station OC Keshinyu Marma has admitted that the law enforcers are conducting the operation on the direct orders of Shafiqul Alam.
Political analysts say this step is being taken to distort history and suppress the spirit of the Liberation War. It has now become clear that this activity of the administration is not just about security but also a planned attempt to disrupt the 50th death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Earlier, the pro-government mobs destroyed the museum on August 5 and 15 last year and February 5 this year.
Because of such repressive directives amid a ban on the partyโs political activities, many people, including top intellectuals, cultural activists, and film stars, paid deep respect to the countryโs founding father on social media.
They also denounced the killers of the brutal assassination of 26 people, including then-President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, braving threats by Yunus- and Jamaat-backed mobs.
Remembering the martyrs of 15th August
Sajeeb Wazed thanks people showing respect to Bangabandhu
Will raise victory flag from the ruins of Dhanmondi 32 once again, says Sheikh Hasina
At the instigation of the Yunus regime, the country saw police brutality as well as mob attacks on the ordinary people who went to the museum to pay tribute to Bangabandhu on Friday. They were assaulted, beaten up, and severely injured by unruly mobs in front of the police.
Videos of elderly men and women going to Dhanmondi 32 with a candle and flowers made rounds on the media and social media. An Islamic cleric visited the site with his wife to offer prayers, but he was sent back by the police and mob.
Even a rickshaw puller named Azizur Rahman, who went to the spot with a bouquet of flowers, was beaten up in front of the media and the police. After he left the scene, police detained him and showed him arrested in a murder case filed over the death of a person on August 4 last year.
While people praised his affection for Bangabandhu, they also criticised the tyrannical mindset of the government to harass dissent.
Even outside Dhaka, ordinary people and Awami League activists who observed programs were attacked or arrested by the police.
How Yunus gang is trying to weaken the Bangladesh Army
How Yunus is distorting history and undermining democratic process
In a disturbing development, BNP and Jamaat supporters played music at various places to celebrate the assassination of Bangabandhu and the fake birth anniversary of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia that she has been observing since 1996.
The BNP also chanted slogans in favour of the party’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, which has been widely criticised by the netizens.
Moreover, since Friday, activists of Yunusโ National Citizen Party (NCP), Jamaat-Shibir and BNP have slandered the people who paid tribute to Bangabandhu. On Saturday, they organised events in Dhaka and Chittagong and threw shoes at the portraits of the pro-liberation people to show hatred.
Abuse of power against a rickshaw puller
The court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ishrat Jennifer Jerin on Saturday sent rickshaw puller Azizur Rahman to jail in an attempted murder case filed over the fatality during the July Movement.
The poor rickshaw puller was produced in court by Dhanmondi police station Sub-Inspector Mohammad Touhidur Rahman, the investigation officer of the case.
On Friday, Azizur Rahman said: โI do not belong to any party. I only love Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. That’s why I came here.โ
He also said: โI did not come to bring back Awami League or Sheikh Hasina. I love Bangabandhu. That’s why I came with flowers bought with my halal money.โ
The detention application states that police found evidence of Azizur Rahmanโs involvement in the murder. Police admitted that the accused was โslightly injuredโ in a scuffle when he was captured by the general public at Dhanmondi-32. โIt is absolutely necessary to keep the accused in jail custody for the sake of investigating the case,โ the IO said.
According to the case, the victim, Md. Ariful Islam was leading a procession from New Market under Dhanmondi police station to the Science Lab area on August 4 last year. He was shot in the back after the accused fired bullets, petrol bombs and hand grenades. Ariful recovered after two months of treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
On April 2 this year, Ariful filed the attempt to murder case with the Dhanmondi police station.
Celebrities speak up
The country was silenced by the pro-government mobs on August 15 last year, but this year, Yunusโ Jamaati mask has been exposed, and the NCPโs popularity has eroded due to mob violence, extortion and corruption.
The dignitaries include Nirmulendu Goon, Shakib Al Ahsan, Shakib Khan, Meher Afroz Shaon, Maria Kispotta, Azmeri Haque Badhon, Abdun Noor Tushar, Joya Ahsan, Pori Moni, Taren Jahan, Zaher Alvi, Nazifa Tushi, Saju Khadem, Aruna Bishwas, Rawnak Hasan, Khairul Basar, Nishita Barua, Irfan Sajjad, Arosh Khan, Anis Alamgir, Konal, Linclon D Costa, Sharaf Ahmed Jibon, Pantho Kanai, Farin Khan, Sania Sultana Liza, Kushum Shikder, Peya Jannatul, Tasnova Hoque Elvin, Lopa Hossain, Imtu Ratish, and Tamanna Shetu, among others.
In response to the tribute by showbiz stars, NCP and Jamaat activists widely posted propaganda on social media, claiming that some of the stars were paid to post about Bangabandhu. They used a photo of a fake bank statement of actor and producer Meher Afroz Shaon of Standard Chartered Bank.
The photo reveals a transfer of approximately Tk20,000 from Shaon’s account to the accounts of nine actors between August 13 and 14.
When there was intense discussion and criticism about the payment, fact checkers verified it and confirmed that it was fake because Shaonโs account number was false, the names of the receivers were taken from Facebook, and the original statement of SCB does not disclose the names of the recipients.
English