An activist from a faction of Gonojagoron Moncho was stabbed and injured by some unidentified miscreants in the Kathalbagan area of the capital, yesterday. The attack allegedly followed a conflict between factions of the Gonoganoron Moncho led by Kamal Pasha Chowdhury and Imran H Sarkar.
The victim, Shishir Ahmed, was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The incident took place in front of the building of the private TV channel Bangla Vision, around 2:30pm.
FM Shaheen, who was present during the attack, said 10-12 youths attacked him together. Two of his fingers also sustained stab wounds. “I spotted one of the attackers. It was Navendu Shaha Joy, Imran Sarkar’s follower,” he said.
When contacted via mobile, Navendu denied his involvement in the attack, saying he was visiting his village home in Narayanganj to celebrate the Pahela Boishakh.
In an April 3 press briefing, some pro-AL activists relieved Imran from the spokesperson post and replaced him with Kamal Pasha Chowdhury.
Kamal feels that this was the root cause for the violence and blamed Imran’s followers for the attack, an accusation which was denied by the latter.
Kamal said, “Imran’s followers were threatening Shishir over the phone and online for a long time.”
Imran is the convener of Bangladesh Online Activist Network (BOAN), who initiated the Shahbagh protest that began on February 5 last year when war criminal Quader Molla flashed a V-sign after getting sentenced for life imprisonment in the cases filed against him for committing war crimes during the 1971 liberation war.
The verdict later triggered widespread outrage that drew thousands of youths to the Shahbagh intersection.
To steer the movement, the Gonojagoron Mancha was formed, comprising pro-liberation student bodies, individuals, cultural organisations and online activists, and Imran was made its spokesperson.
In this regard, Imran said there is no link between this and the movement of the Moncho.
He has been blamed for being autocratic in decision-making by a faction of the platform.