Jamaat also announces nationwide hartal for Sunday

Protesting the "unjust arrests" and obstruction of its activists in today's rally, the Jamaat-e-Islami has also announced a dawn-to-dusk nationwide hartal for Sunday (29 October), coinciding with the strike announced earlier by the BNP.

Acting Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Maulana ATM Masum declared the hartal in a statement today, saying the government had arrested more than 300 leaders and activists of the party from different parts of the country to thwart Jamaat's programme at the Shapla Chattar in the capital today.  

"In protest against the arrest of activists, including Shafiqur Rahman, and the police's obstruction of the mass meeting announced by Jamaat on 28 October, and the unjust arrest of the leaders and activists who came to attend the mass meeting, we are announcing a peaceful morning-evening hartal across the country tomorrow," he said. 

In the statement, Masum said it was the constitutionally recognised democratic right of any political party to hold meetings and marches. 

Leaders and activists who came to attend the Jamaat's mass meeting were arrested from buses, launches and trains, he alleged, saying the detentions were illegal and undemocratic. 

Strongly condemning the arrests, the party reiterated its call for the immediate resignation of the government and to hold the coming election under a caretaker government.

Earlier today, the BNP declared a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal for Sunday (29 October) to protest police action on the party's Nayapaltan rally.

Dhaka South Mayor Sheikh Fazle Taposh has said the BNP will not be allowed to hold its hartal. 

Won't allow election without caretaker govt: Jamaat

The Jamaat-e-Islami will not allow the national election to be held without a caretaker government, said the party's Acting Ameer Professor Mujibur Rahman on Saturday (28 October).

"People's rights to vote must be established even if it means to sacrifice lives," he said at Jamaat-e-Islami's rally at Motijheel's Arambagh in Dhaka.

Referring to a clash that took place on 28 October 2006 between Jamaat-e-Islami and Awami League activists in Dhaka's Baitul Mukarram area, Mujibur Rahman said, "We want to take revenge for that 28 October. Awami League men killed Jamaat-e-Islami and Chhatra Shibir leaders and activists that day.

"But we will not take revenge by killing, rather we will take action after implementing the laws of Quran and Sunnah, Insha'allah. We will not let a single drop of blood of our martyred brothers go in vain."

The acting ameer demanded the release of the party's Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, Secretary Mia Gholam Parwar, and other leaders including Rafiqul Islam Khan, and Motiur Rahman Akand who are imprisoned. 

He also demanded the release of Jamaat leaders and activists who were detained on the way to this rally.

Jamaat leaders and activists started gathering in the Arambag area early in the morning, while several hundred police officers put barricades at Arambagh and Shapla Chattar in Motijheel.

Around 11:30am, Jamaat brought four pickup vans and built a stage for their rally at Arambagh intersection. Around 1:30pm, nearly a thousand Jamaat activists broke through the police barricades in both Fakirapool and Arambagh and entered the Shapla Chattar.

Jamaat's acting ameer instructed the party activists to commence the programme at 2pm.

Earlier yesterday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police gave permission to the Awami League and BNP to hold their rallies at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram Mosque and Nayapaltan respectively, subject to 20 conditions.

However, Jamaat did not receive approval from the DMP for their scheduled rally at Shapla Chattar on the same day.