Dhaka, July 11: Star Online ReportThe alliance of 12 like-minded political parties threatened to continue agitation if the phrase “Absolute Faith and Trust on the Almighty Allah” is not restored in the constitution as their 30-hour hartal ended quietly Monday.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), a constituent of the alliance, held a separate press briefing to threaten of nonstop hartal demanding the same.
The 30-hour hartal, which began Sunday morning, saw no pickets on the street for its enforcement Monday.
No untoward incident took place and life was almost normal with a thin presence of private vehicles on the city streets. However, with the day growing, streets got a busy look and city thoroughfares started to bustle with more and more people pouring onto the streets.
Our correspondents who covered the second day of the hartal reported that law enforcers kept main opposition BNP’s central office at Naya Paltan and Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish (BKM) office at Paltan cordoned off since the morning.
After the hartal ended, the 12-party alliance held a press conference at BKM office.
Addressing the press briefing, Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf, ameer of Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, threatened of continuing agitation programmes to force the government to reinstate the phrase “Absolute Faith and Trust on the Almighty Allah” in the constitution.
On the first day of hartal, Narayanganj turned into a battle zone when police responded with teargas shells and rubber bullets as some of the rampaging activists attacked the law enforcers and snatched from them a pistol, a shotgun and a wireless set, and smashed those.
The violence left over 120 people injured, including 17 policemen who were attacked by pro-hartal activists.
Police have filed five separate cases against several hundreds of people on charge of attacking police and obstructing law enforcers in discharging their duties during the hartal hours, said Narayanganj Superintendent of Police Sheikh Nazmul Alam.
A total of 31 people were arrested in connection with the violence, he added.
Of the cases, two were filed with Fatullah Model and Siddhirganj police stations each and another with Sonargaon Police Station shortly after Sunday midnight.
The police officials mentioned the names of over 150 accused, including the 31 arrestees, in the five cases.
At least 228 activists mainly from Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) and BKM were rounded up from Fatullah and Kanchpur in Narayanganj, Dhaka city, Chittagong, Pabna and Patuakhali on the first day of hartal.
The main opposition BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami extended support to the hartal protesting the recent constitutional amendment that restored secularism as a state principle and removed the phrase “Absolute Faith and Trust on the Almighty Allah.”
-Agencies