Desk Report,
Attack, vandalism and fire at Jatiya Party office again
The Jatiya Party (JPA) office in Kakrail in the capital has been attacked, vandalized and set on fire again. The attack took place on Friday evening. JPA has blamed the Gana Odhikar Parishad for the attack. The Gana Odhikar Parishad denied the allegations and said that they had no involvement in the attack, vandalism and arson.
Attack, vandalism and fire at Jatiya Party office again
Eyewitnesses, police and Jatiya Party sources said that a procession of the Gana Odhikar Parishad was passing in front of the JPA office in Kakrail at around 7:15 pm. Some leaders and activists from that procession attacked the JPA office. At that time, they vandalized the ground floor of the office and at one stage set it on fire.
Eyewitness sources said that some JPA leaders and activists were in their office before the attack. They moved away when they saw the Gana Odhikar Parishad procession coming. When the procession came in front of the JPA office, the police were deployed there. But since they were few in number, they did not stop the marchers. Later, additional police arrived and started extinguishing the fire at the Jatiya Party office. During the attack and vandalism, traffic was stopped on the road in front of the Jatiya Party office. At that time, there was heavy traffic jam on the surrounding roads.
In this regard, Deputy Commissioner of the Ramna Division of the Police Md. Masud Alam told Prothom Alo that the attackers attacked, vandalized and set fire to the Jatiya Party office and left. Later, additional police arrived and used water cannons to put out the fire. Traffic on the road returned to normal around 8 pm.
After the attack, when we went to the Jatiya Party office around 8 pm, we saw that various furniture and documents on the ground floor of the five-story building had been burned in the fire. Ershad’s picture and Jatiya Party logo on the wall in front of the office had been vandalized. A picture of party chairman GM Quader was left on the road. Jatiya Party leaders and activists are holding a procession in front of the office in protest of the attack. At that time, the leaders and activists kept chanting slogans like ‘Jatiya Party Jatiya Party, Zindabad Zindabad’, ‘GM Quader, move forward, we are with you’, ‘Who says Ershad is not there, Ershad is all over Bengal’. Earlier, on August 29, there was a clash between the leaders and activists of Jatiya Party and Gana Odhikar Parishad. That day too, the JPA office was attacked and vandalized. Some time after that incident, the President of Gana Odhikar Parishad, Nurul Haque, was seriously injured in the beating by the law enforcement agencies. He is still undergoing treatment in the hospital.
The Gana Odhikar Parishad held a protest march on the evening of August 30 in protest against the attack on Nurul Haque. At that time, a group of protesters attacked and vandalized the JPA central office. At one stage, the protesters set fire to the office. Later, the police came and beat the attackers away with batons.
After the attack today, the party’s Secretary General Shamim Haider Patwary came to the Jatiya Party office. He told reporters, “The country is ruled by tyranny. The government cannot avoid its responsibility.” He warned of a nationwide movement if the people who attacked and set fire to it are not identified and brought to justice within the next 24 hours. Regarding the attackers, Shamim Haider said, “We saw a procession coming under the banner of the Gana Odhikar Parishad and attacking and setting fire to it. However, there may be people of other identities in the procession.”
JPA Joint Secretary General Juber Alam Khan was at the office before the attack. He told reporters, “We were holding a meeting at the office to organize the Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) prayer tomorrow. After Maghrib, a large procession suddenly came and attacked and set fire to the office. They set fire to it for about half an hour.” He said that at least four of their leaders and activists were injured in the incident. General Secretary of the Gana Odhikar Parishad Md. Rashed Khan denied the allegation of an attack on the JPA office. He told Prothom Alo, “After the July coup, countless people are angry with JPA. The interim government is giving an opportunity to JPA, an ally of fascism. The angry students and public vandalized the JPA office. It is not possible for the Gana Odhikar Parishad to control these angry people. The Gana Odhikar Parishad has nothing to do with this attack.”
Earlier this afternoon, the Gana Odhikar Parishad held a rally in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh demanding three points, including punishment for those involved in the attack on Nurul Haque and other leaders and activists. Their other demands are that the Awami League’s ally Jatiya Party and the 14-party party should be tried, registration should be canceled, and politics should be banned. In addition, the Home Affairs Advisor should resign, taking responsibility for the failure.
After the rally, the leaders and activists of the Gana Odhikar Parishad left for the Bijoynagar office in a procession. Police said that the attack on the JPA office began from that procession.
