Hefazat-e-Islam has postponed their Motijheel Shapla Chattar rally in the capital scheduled for Tuesday citing reasons that they were denied permission for the gathering.
The statement came minutes after police barred Hefazat chief Shah Ahmed Shafi and his deputy Junaid Babunagari on their way to Dhaka from Chittagong on Monday.
The decision to postpone the rally was announced by the Dhaka metropolitan unit of Hefazat at a press conference in a Baridhara madrassa in the capital.
The move was made in view of junior Law Minister Quamrul Islam's stern stance on not allowing Hefazat to hold the rally.
“Though preparations were complete, we are canceling tomorrow's rally because we have not been given permission,” Dhaka unit convener Nur Hossain Quashemi said.
Meanwhile, in Chittagong, the central Hefazat unit sat in a discussion over their next phase of actions.
Earlier, police stopped Shafi and Babunagari at the gates of the Hathazari madrassa while heading for Dhaka, Hefazat's Organising Secretary Azizul Haque Islamabadi said.
Hathazari police Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Ismail said police requested them not to move towards Dhaka in wake of the current situation. “They complied.”
Hefazat, self-proclaimed as pro-Islamic and non-political organisation, had called the December 24 rally weeks ahead of the January 5 national elections amidst an on-going agitation programme of the BNP-led 18-party alliance.
Earlier on May 5, the Hefazat held a rally in Shapla Chattar was evicted in a late night drive of the law enforcers. The day was marked with violence in adjacent areas.