At least 10 people were hurt in a factional clash of the ruling Awami Ulama League in front of the National Press Club yesterday morning.
The clash was between the supporters of one faction’s president, Ilias Hossain Bin Helali, and another faction’s president, Md Delowar Hossain. Supporters of one faction had chased and assaulted supporters of the other in the presence of police, who at first had watched as spectators.
According to witnesses and police, members of the Helali and Hossain factions stood in front of the Press Club in a human chain to congratulate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for receiving the “Campaign of the Earth” Award and to protest against acts of militancy.
Around 10:30am, when Helali arrived to join the human chain, the other faction’s supporters attacked Helali’s supporters with firearms and sticks. The half-hour long clash, later settled by deploying additional police officers, left 10 people of both factions hurt.
The injured are Mawlana Shawkat Ali Shaikh, Hazi Habibullah Rupganji, Mawlana Abu Bakkar Siddique, Mawlana Mostofa Chowdhury Bagerhati, Lokman Hossain, Mawlana Asad, Mawlana Md Solaiman, Mawlana Nazmul Haque, Mawlana Rabikul Islam and Mawlana Sahjahan.
In this regard, Helali said he is the actual president of Ulama League. The group members who were driven out are the agents of Jamaat-e-Islam and Hefazat-e-Islam, he said, adding that they had tried to establish their own agenda which caused them to be ousted.
On the other hand, Abul Hasan, secretary of the faction supporting Hossain, claimed: “Helali’s supporters had attacked us and driven us out to prevent us from speaking about Bangabandhu.” He also accused the Helali faction of working at the behest of Jamaat-e-Islami.
When contacted, Abu Bakkar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh police station, said: “A complaint has been filed by the Helali faction in this regard, but we have yet to arrest anyone. We are investigating every issue and if needed we will conduct drives to arrest the one responsible.”
