What could be a peaceful political demonstration against the BNP’s campaign for a city corporation poll candidate at Karwan Bazar on Monday ultimately turned into an unwarranted attack on Khaleda Zia’s motorcade.
It all started with Awami League’s Ward 26 unit President Jahirul Haque Jillu and a few Chhatra League men showing black flags to BNP chief Khaleda Zia who was speaking from her car seeking votes for the Dhaka North mayoral candidate her party is backing.
Just a day before also, ruling party men demonstrated with black flags against Khaleda’s campaign at Uttara, but no untoward situation arose there.
Jillu, who later filed a case against 100 unnamed BNP leaders and activists and CSF personnel, however, claims that he did not show any black flag at Karwan Bazar. But photographs taken by the Dhaka Tribune clearly show otherwise. After the incident, Jillu also claimed to have fallen victim to the attack by Khaleda’s security personnel.
As Jillu and others were waving black flags from a pick-up van, a number of activists apparently got inspired and started hurling watermelon shells at Khaleda who was then delivering a speech in front of the Karwan Bazar kitchen market.
Seeking anonymity, several witnesses said these activists belonged to Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party. They were all protesting Khaleda’s campaign. One of them was seen showing sandals to the BNP chairperson.
This angered the leaders and activists of the BNP and its associate bodies present there. At one stage, they drove the Chhatra League activists away.
After a while, M Tuhin, the vice-president of Tejturipara unit of Chhatra League who was seen standing beside Jillu, and other activists launched the attack on Khaleda’s motorcade.
They hit a member of Khaleda’s security force CSF and BNP activists. They hurled bricks and stones at them.
Soon the place turned chaotic with the unruly youths vandalising almost all the cars in Khaleda’s motorcade.
When Jillu was contacted for comments, he claimed that he had been standing on the footpath after finishing their campaign near the kitchen market and watched what was happening. He also claimed that no Chhatra League leader was with him.
However, he told the Dhaka Tribune that before going faint he had seen a few businessmen and rickshaw van-pullers showing black flags to the BNP chief.
He also claimed that five Chhatra League activists, including Tuhin and Rony Khandoker, the Baulbagh unit president of the organisation, were hurt in the attack.
When asked why the activists were there, Jillu said he did not know the reasons.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday, Rony claimed that he was not involved in Chhatra League politics and that he only worked at a shop at Karwan Bazar.
However, Jillu and Chhatra League’s Dhaka City North unit General Secretary Azizul Haque Rana had earlier on that day said Rony was one of their leaders.
Asked if they had any meeting at Karwan Bazar on Monday, Rana said they did not.
He also said he did not know why the Chhatra League activists were there because he was at Gulshan at that time.