Bangladesh News

Awami League (AL) leaders yesterday blamed the caretaker government for ‘leniently’ applying emergency power rules for Jamaat-Shibir and communal forces.

“State of emergency is strictly enforced in our case, but it is relaxed for Jamaat-Shibir and extremist communal forces,” AL Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed said at a rally in the capital.

Tofail deplored the government’s talks with the Jamaat secretary general recently despite arrest warrant against him, ‘inaction’ against communal forces who staged violent demonstrations opposing the move for a policy for women and demanding reinstallation of Baul sculptures near the airport.

The rally was organised to protest the killing of some Jubo League and 14-party alliance leaders and activists in Paltan area of the capital and elsewhere in the country on October 28 in 2006 by ‘BNP-Jamaat coalition cadres’.

Downtown Dhaka virtually turned into a battlefield on that day with thousands of AL workers clashing with Jamaat supporters in Paltan area for seven hours, and with police in Bangabandhu Avenue and Golapshah Mazar area that left at least four killed.

Suranjit Sengupta, another AL presidium member, alleged that charge sheets in the cases filed for the killings have not been completed due to reluctance of the present government and its home adviser. The adviser favours a particular party, he said without naming it.

Others who addressed the rally included AL acting President Zillur Rahman, presidium members Sajeda Chowdhury, Abdur Razzak and Matia Chowdhury, Joint Secretary Abdul Mannan and Jubo League General Secretary Mirza Azam. It was held at Jubo League central office.

The AL leaders reiterated their demands for withdrawal of the state of emergency, unconditional release of party President Sheikh Hasina and deferral of upazila election.

Tofail said a conspiracy is on to foil the next election. He hoped that the issue of demarcation of parliamentary constituencies would be settled before the announcement of election schedule.

Zillur Rahman demanded that the government allow AL leaders detained in jails to participate in the parliamentary elections.

“Many of our leaders and workers are in jails on detention although government finds no charges against them. So, they should be allowed to take part in the election,” he said.

Jamaat-Shibir spent crores of taka to prove their innocence in the October 28 killings but failed, he added, demanding trial of the killers.

The AL leaders said if their party under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina comes to power through the next election, it would bring the killers to book.