Monday, May 6, 2013

Hefajatey Islam Bangladesh: Is It a Terrorist Group?


1. Hefajat men burn 82 Quran, Hadith book stores


FROM BAITUL MUKARRAM: Hefajat-e-Islam activists set fire to 82 religious book stores of southern part of Baitul Mukarram in the capital, during their Sunday’s violence.


Scattered ravages are seen on Monday throughout the Motijheel, Shapla Chattar, Baitul Mukarram area as a sign of their sabotage.

Sources said that several people have died as a result of their unrestrained destructive activities.

One of the proprietors of destroyed shops Nurul Amin told banglanews, “I had a book store of religious books. We shut and left our book stores following police order when Hefajat-e-Islam started rally.”

Later we learnt that Hefajat activists had set our book stores on fire, he added.
Victim cap-trader Rabiul Awal, in a lamenting voice, told banglanews, “I have lost everything. How will I run my family? I seek justice from Allah for this loss.”
He added that in the name of saving Islam, Hefajat had destroyed his everything.
Owner of Shirin publications Mamun said, “Burning Quran and Hadith books are just disrespecting the religion.”  
Hefajat-e-Islam activists conducted massive violence in capital’s Purana Paltan, Motijheel, Dainik Bangla crossing, Zero Point, Golap Shah Mazar of Gulistan area on Sunday. Later they fled as police RAB, police and BGB men started the massive operation early Monday.


2. RAB vehicle vandalized in city


FROM KANCHPUR:  Activists of Hefazat-e-Islam vandalized a vehicle of Rapid Action Battalion in city’s Kanchpur area on Sunday morning during its Dhaka blockade programme.


Hefazat activist Tazul Islam told banglanews, RAB personnel misbehaved with Hefazat men when the vehicle intercepted in the area. Following the matter, some angry protesters vandalized glasses of the vehicle.
Thousands of Hefazat activists took to the streets in Kanchpur and Chittagong road area as a part of their Dhaka blockade.
When asking about their next course of action programme, an activist named Sohail told banglanews, “We will continue our progrmme as per directives from center leaders.”
But wishing anonymity, some others said they would march toward Baitul Mukarram after concluding blockage programme.






3. Hefajat hurls 20 cocktails at cops


DHAKA: A cop was injured as activists of Hefajat-e-Islam hurled 20 cocktails aiming law enforcers in Paltan area on Sunday afternoon.


Hefajat activists launched random attacks on law enforcers in Bijoynagar, Baitul Mokarram and Zero point areas. They also attacked Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) of police. 
Law enforcers fired rubber bullets and tear shells to take the situation under control.
Hefajat-e-Islam has blockaded Dhaka from the early hours of Sunday to press home their 13-point demand including trial of atheist bloggers.
The rally of Hefajat-e-Islam has started a rally at Motijheel Shapla Chattar halting traffic movements of all roads towards the venue.





4. Hefajat sets fire to Rangs Tower


Photo: banglanews24.com

DHAKA: Hefejat-e-Islam activists set fire to Rangs Tower at Purana Paltan of the city on Sunday evening.


Different offices of Bank Asia, Daily Sakaler Khabar, Robi Customer Care and KFC are located in the building.

Witnesses said miscreants assaulted security guards of the building during the time.


Earlier in the day, Hefajat activists attacked Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) office and set fire on it at Purana Paltan. They also set fire on the small shops on the footpaths in the area.
Besides, at least four people were injured critically as activists of Hefajat-e-Islam randomly attacked central office of ruling Awami League in capital’s Bangabandhu Avenue in the afternoon.
Hefajat-e-Islam blockaded Dhaka from the early hours of Sunday to press home their 13-point demand, including trial of atheist bloggers.






5. Police boxes torched, constable injured


DHAKA: At least two police boxes were torched at different parts of the city as violence was escalating amid Hefajat-e-Islam’s grand rally on Sunday evening.


A police constable was injured in the incident. The victim--Piarul Islam--was admitted to Dhaka Medical College burn unit.
Witnesses said miscreants set fire to a police box at Shantinagar around 6:20pm while another at Mouchak at about 6:25 pm.
Sources said some Hefajat activists entered the police boxes and set fire to them. 




6. 3 cops, 1 BGB member killed


DHAKA: Three police personnel and a member of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were killed during sporadic clashes with Hefajat activists in Kanchpur of Narayanganj and in Motijheel of Dhaka Monday.


The deceased were identified as Shah Alam, 40, of BGB and Firoz, 35, Zakaria, 28 and Jahangir, 47, are of police. 
On the other hand, another person, who was identified as Saiful Islam, hailed from Pulinda under Araihazar of Narayanganj, died in attack of Hefajat-e-Islam.
Earlier in the morning, injured BGB and police personnel were taken to DMC where doctor Haridas Saha declared them dead. 





7. Hefajat attacks CPB office, sets fire

DHAKA: Hefajat-e-Islam activists attacked Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) office and set fire on it at Purana Paltan on Sunday afternoon.


They also set fire on the small shops on the footpaths in the area.
Earlier in the day, at least four people were injured critically as activists of Hefajat-e-Islam randomly attacked central office of ruling Awami League in capital’s Bangabandhu Avenue in the afternoon.
Hefajat-e-Islam blockaded Dhaka from the early hours of Sunday to press home their 13-point demand, including trial of atheist bloggers.
The rally of Hefajat-e-Islam has started a rally at Motijheel Shapla Chattar halting traffic movements of all roads towards the venue.





8. Hefajat attacks AL central office


DHAKA: At least four people were injured critically as activists of Hefajat-e-Islam randomly attacked central office of ruling Awami League in capital’s Bangabandhu Avenue on Sunday afternoon.


Witnesses said Awami League activists chased Hefajat activists when they torched a vehicle in the area.
Later being organized, Hefajat activists attacked AL office, leaving four people injured.
Police opened blank fires, rubber bullets and tear shells to take the situation under control. Few Hefajat activists were held from the spot.
Hefajat-e-Islam has blockaded Dhaka from the early hours of Sunday to press home their 13-point demand including trial of atheist bloggers.
The rally of Hefajat-e-Islam has begun to throng at Motijheel Shapla Chattar Sunday halting traffic movements of all roads towards the venue. The party started the rally at 11:30am on the same demands.





9. Their target vault looting : Barakat


DHAKA: Janata Bank chairman Abul Barakat alleged that Hefajat-e-Islam activists targeted to loot money destroying the vault of the bank on Sunday.


He came with the allegation while visiting the corporate branch of bank on the north side of Baitul Mukarram mosque at 11:00am Monday.

Abul Barakat said, “I think, trained militia of Jamaat-e-Islam in the name of Hefajat-e-Islam have conducted sabotage in the area. They want to use religion to go to the power. They are showing muscles as this is not possible normally.”

He added, “They set fire in the corporate branch to destroy the vault because they know that destruction of economic institutions destroys a nation. But this could never be possible.”


Barakat further added, “They have burned road side book stores where various kinds of books including Quran had been being sold for a long time. They want to destroy every school of thought except their own.”


He opined that Hefajat-e-Islam will make a mistake if they think that people are afraid of them.








10. Big shock for small shops



Roadside vendors sit on burnt-out remains of clothes after Hefajat-e-Islam activists ransacked and set fire to shops around the Baitul Mukarram complex in Dhaka on Sunday. As many as 525 small businesses in the area bore the brunt of vandalism.  Photo:SK Enamul Haq
Roadside vendors sit on burnt-out remains of clothes after Hefajat-e-Islam activists ransacked and set fire to shops around the Baitul Mukarram complex in Dhaka on Sunday. As many as 525 small businesses in the area bore the brunt of vandalism. Photo:SK Enamul Haq


Abul Bashar, 45, a retailer of crockery and toys, was sifting through the ashes on the west side of the Baitul Mukarram national mosque. He saw he could save just some half-burnt steel items; the plastic toys disappeared.

Curious onlookers were passing by, but Bashar was staring at the remains of his shop. He was dumbstruck losing goods worth around Tk 3 lakh overnight.

He was not alone in his misery. Many small businesses, estimated to be around 525, have lost their goods — from shoes to readymade garments, toys, books, watches and stationeries — owing to vandalism and arson by Hefajat-e-Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami activists on Sunday.
Mohammad Dulal, 40, has been running a shop on the footpaths of Baitul Mukarram for 22 years. He has seen a lot of political demonstrations in the area in his time — but nothing like the one he saw on Sunday.
Two of Dulal’s shops that were selling imported Chinese shoes were completely burnt. Hefajat atrocities made him count a loss of Tk 10 lakh. He is now worried as he owes Tk 4 lakh to his suppliers.
Liton, 32, another shoe seller in the area, was also anxious about being able to pay back his bank loan. He sees no hope.
Hundreds of small business owners around the Baitul Mukarram mosque have become bankrupt overnight.
With a bleak future ahead, they rushed to journalists on the scene to share their harrowing experiences.
“If we could have predicted the extent of vandalism, we would have taken our goods away from the shops,” said Nabir Hossain, who has been selling children’s wear on the footpath for the last 15 years.
They knew that Hefajat would only lay siege to six entry points into the capital and do nothing inside the city. But they saw thousands of activists take to the city streets by 11am and start vandalising public and private properties in the Paltan area. At one point around 11am, nearly 600 footpath shop owners around Baitul Mukarram mosque had to flee the area, leaving behind their goods.
“We left the place around 11am. There was no scope for us to take our goods as the Hefajat activists looked dangerous,” said Babar Hossain, who sells garments. “We found the goods burnt down yesterday morning,” he said, weeping.
With no concrete data, business owners assumed goods worth Tk 9 crore-Tk 12 crore were destroyed.
Forty booksellers in the area counted the greatest losses, with all their books burnt down, including the Quran.
“The vandalism was beyond our imagination. We never thought Hefajat activists will set Islamic books on fire,” said Zahidul Islam, who lost books and prayer kits and mats worth Tk 3 lakh.
Shakhawat Hossain, a young wholesaler of Islamic books, is facing a great loss. “I get money from six book shops that were gutted. How will they pay me back?”
Abdul Majid, 40, feels lucky as his shop was not burned. He sat idle next to his shop, which did not open yesterday. “Somehow, my shop was spared. But I feel sorry for others. They have lost everything overnight.”
Kamrul Islam, a small tea-stall owner on the west side of Baitul Mukarram, ran a cooperative of footpath shop owners and depositors kept Tk 30,000 with him. Hefajat activists burned down his shop along with the money and his goods.

sajjad@thedailystar.net



11. BNS bears Hefajat brunt


Hefajat-e Islam activists created a reign of terror in Dhaka's commercial hub of Motijheel on Sunday. They also did not spare the adjacent Bangabandhu National Stadium where they tore apart the athletic turf.  Photos: Courtesy
Hefajat-e Islam activists created a reign of terror in Dhaka’s commercial hub of Motijheel on Sunday. They also did not spare the adjacent Bangabandhu National Stadium where they tore apart the athletic turf. Photos: Courtesy

The country’s premium multi-sport venue, the Bangabandhu National Stadium bore the marks of the vicious vandalism by the activists of Hefajat-e-Islam on Sunday, leading to the cancellation of yesterday’s Bangladesh Premier League fixture between Sheikh Russel KC and Feni Soccer Club.

The activists of Hefajat-e-Islam entered the venue after breaking down Gate-17 and the giant gate under the torch at the northern part of the stadium at about 5:00pm on Sunday and unleashed vicious vandalism inside the stadium.

Damaged the press box  and other facilities of the premier venue. Photos: Courtesy
Damaged the press box and other facilities of the premier venue. Photos: Courtesy

It seems that the rage of the Hefajat-e-Islam was on the sports journalists as they fully vandalised the 150-seater press box. All the glasses of the press box had been smashed and up to 50 chairs were uprooted. The giant glass window of the president box was also shattered. The fixed chairs on the gallery in front of the press box were also broken and so were the eight dugouts, athletics store-rooms, dressing room doors, entrance gates of VVIP gallery, time-keeping house of the track and field, electronic stop watch, electrical cables, sound system of the stadium, and worst of all; a small part of the Tk 10-crore athletics track.

The activists also vandalised outside the stadium, breaking glasses of security rooms of the stadium parking area and uprooting the ornamental ceramic bricks including the guide wall of the stadium road.

They also set fire to a private car and two motorcycles in front of the National Sports Council, which also suffered after some basement glasses had been broken.A security guard of BNS informed that some 300 to 400 agitated people, most of them young, entered the stadium with bamboo sticks and brick pieces and proceeded to vandalise everything in sight. They even advanced to vandalise the VVIP box and ICC president Box.
Mohammad Yahia, administrator of the stadium, said that he along with security guards protected the grand area of the stadium at the risk of their life.
Terming the stadium vandalism as an unprecedented incident, state minister for youth and sports Ahad Ali Sarker said that they have already judged the damage of the stadium and would make the venue ready for sport as soon as possible.
The BFF has shifted the Sheikh Russel-Feni Soccer match to today but Yahia was not sure whether they would able to hold the match on schedule.








12. 27 more killed


Law enforcers trying to remove Hefajat-e Islam men blocking Dhaka-Chittagong highway near Signboard area in Narayanganj yesterday morning. Photo: Focus Bangla
Law enforcers trying to remove Hefajat-e Islam men blocking Dhaka-Chittagong highway near Signboard area in Narayanganj yesterday morning. Photo: Focus Bangla

At least 27 people, including three lawmen, died in clashes between law enforcers and Hefajat activists who struck terror in Narayanganj, Hathazari and Bagerhat yesterday, hours after Hefajat men were flushed out of the capital’s Motijheel.
Twenty of the victims, including two policemen and a BGB soldier, were killed in Narayanganj, six at Hathazari in Chittagong and one in Bagerhat during the running battles that also left more that 200 people injured, relatives and hospital sources said.
One of the Hathazari victims is an army sergeant who had been on leave and had been visiting his village home in the area’s Alimpur.
Earlier on Sunday, and in the wee hours yesterday, 13 other people, including a police sub-inspector, were killed in clashes between Hefajat, police and Awami League activists and in a raid to drive away the Islamist group’s men from Shapla Chattar.
Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, however, told reporters at his secretariat office yesterday afternoon that in all nine people, including three law enforcers, died in the clashes over the last two days in the capital.
To avoid further violence, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police imposed a ban on all rallies and processions in the city till midnight yesterday.

NARAYANGANJ

The city’s Kanchpur and Signboard areas turned into a battleground during an eight-hour clash after around 1,000 locals of Shiddirganj joined the Hefajat men following false announcements using the mikes of local mosques that police attacked Madaninagar Madrasa students, police and witnesses said.
The students and teachers of the madrasa took to the Dhaka-Chittagong highway before the madrasa after Fajr prayers on hearing that the Hefajat men had been driven out from Shapla Chattar, prompting the law enforcers to swing into action.
Police fired several hundred gunshots, rubber bullets and teargas shells to disperse the Hefajat men and the locals who threw brickbats and stones at police, Rab and BGB men and attacked them with bamboo sticks. Police said the Hefajat men also hurled over 100 cocktails at them.
Activists of the Islamist group ran riot on at least 10 points on a three-kilometre stretch on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway from Signboard to Kanchpur Bridge.
They also vandalised and torched about 10 vehicles, including a Rapid Action Battalion car, and set fire to a police outpost on the highway.
Traffic on the highway remained suspended for eight hours until police brought the situation under control around 1:00pm.
Police constable Zakaria, 44, and nayek Firoz Khan, 53, were beaten to death. Nayek subedar Shah Alam, 55, of BGB was also beaten death, police said.
The 17 other victims are locals — Shawkat Hossain Badhan, 18, a student of Daniya College in the capital, Marzanul Islam Sourav, 16, an SSC examinee of Sheikh Mortuza High School, water vendor Nazir Hossain, 30, Nizamul Haq Nizam, 28, rickshaw puller Habibur Rahman, 30, construction worker Abdul Gafur, 30, welding worker Abu Bakkar Siddique Palash, 25, van puller Sadeq Mia, 32, garment factory employees Md Hannan, 32, and Rubel, 25, auto-rickshaw driver Jasim Uddin, 32, covered van helper Mizanur Rahman, 20, shop employee Saiful, 36, Babu, 36, Saidul, 28, Jewel, 25, and another Rubel, 22.

HATHAZARI

At least six people were killed and 50 others, including five policemen, injured in running battles between Hefajat men and police in Hathazari of the port city.
The dead are Abu Noman, Anwar Jahed, Mohammad Mamun, sergeant Saidur Rahman, Sajjad Hossain and Mohammad Jasim.
Since early morning, the Hefajat men put up blockades on different spots on Chittagong-Rangamati road and Chittagong-Khagrachhari road, said AKM Liakat Ali, officer-in-charge of Hathazari Police Station.
Around 1:30pm, an announcement came from a nearby madrasa that Hefajat chief Shah Ahmed Shafi was arrested in Dhaka, said Abul Kashem, inspector of the station.
At this, the madrasa students, who are also Hefajat men, along with some locals fought with police, BGB and Rab members.
They swooped on the law enforcers with sticks and iron rods and hurled bricks.
Law enforcers fired teargas shells and rubber bullets to disperse them.

BAGERHAT

In Bagerhat, one Hefajat activist was killed and at least 20 other people, including lawmen and journalists, were wounded in clashes at Chulkathi and Katakhali intersections on Khulna-Mongla highway and at Town Noapara and Kathaltola areas.
The victim could not be identified.
Witnesses said the Hefajat men staged a demonstration, blocking the Khulna-Mongla road with logs and vandalised several vehicles following a rumour that some Hefajat men of the district were shot dead by police at Motijheel on Sunday night.

News Link: 27 more killed





13. People pour in to witness




A number of copies of the holy Quran were burnt when the stalls and pushcarts of hawkers were set ablaze during the violence at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram mosque Sunday afternoon. Photo: Sk Enamul Haq
A number of copies of the holy Quran were burnt when the stalls and pushcarts of hawkers were set ablaze during the violence at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram mosque Sunday afternoon. Photo: Sk Enamul Haq
Hundreds of people gathered near the south gate of Baitul Mukarram Mosque yesterday to see the trail of Sunday’s devastation left by Hefajat-e Islam men. They saw many burnt pages with Arabic words on them.
They were very careful not to step on those pages that were once part of the Holy Qur’an, the sacred text of the Muslims.
Inside the south gate, bookseller Hafez Mohammad Shahadat Hossain was conversing with other small traders, who lost their businesses on a single night.
Shahadat and his partner Moulana Abdullah Aziz have been selling the Holy Qur’an and Islamic books, including Bukhari Sharif and Neyamul Koran, in front of the mosque for nearly thirteen years.
Not even in his worst nightmare could Shahadat imagine that someone would torch the holy books.
“Let alone a Muslim, not even a non-Muslim can do what they [Hefajat men] have done,” he said, struggling to hold back his anger.
“It is sad and outrageous.”
The torching of the Holy Qur’an by Hefajat men has sparked a wave of protests across the country.
Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama’at, an organisation based on Sunni Muslim ideology, demanded harsh punishment to Hefajat leaders and activists for burning the Holy Qur’an and desecrating the mosque.
They asked the government to ban Hefajat-e Islam, a Qaumi Madrasa-based organisation, and declare it a militant and terrorist organisation for creating anarchy in the capital.
Traders on the pavements around Baitul Mukarram mosque said around 50 bookshops there sold the Holy Qur’an, Hadith and other Islamic books. Some 10 shops somehow survived Hefajat’s rampage, while the rest were burnt to ashes.
They said several hundred copies of the Holy Qur’an were inside the stalls torched by Hefajat men.
Booksellers there usually pack their goods in plastic and keep those inside the mosque whenever there is any trouble.
“But yesterday, there was no sign of warning. When the chaos started around noon, we just wrapped the books in plastic and left the place,” said Shahadat.
He had two stalls of Islamic books that included 400 copies of the Holy Qur’an.
“I used to sell books worth about Tk 2,000 a day.”
He said the gutted stocks of books would be worth around Tk 4.5 lakh.
Shakhawat Hossain, a wholesaler of Islamic books, said these bookshops were known as sellers of the Holy Qur’an.
“Everybody knows that the Holy Qur’an and Hadith books were sold here, and if Hefajat men claim they didn’t know that, it will be a lie,” said Shakhawat.
Mohammad Musa, an elderly man from Sutrapur in old Dhaka, could not believe that a Muslim could burn the Holy Qur’an. He was in tears to see the burnt pages of the holy book.
Whoever had burnt the holy book must not go unpunished, said Aziz.



14. Brought to knees


The ATM booth of Brac Bank at Motijheel was vandalised and attempts had been made to loot the cash during Sunday's violence centring on the Hefajat-e Islam rally. Photo: Amran Hossain
The ATM booth of Brac Bank at Motijheel was vandalised and attempts had been made to loot the cash during Sunday’s violence centring on the Hefajat-e Islam rally. Photo: Amran Hossain

What is typically a bustling part of Dhaka city lay in a sorry state yesterday morning. As if an angry cyclone had hit the capital’s commercial hub, leaving a mountain of collateral damage in its wake.
There was nary a roadside shop in sight in Motijheel and Paltan, a part of town which is always buzzing with makeshift stalls and hawkers.
In their place lay a mass of ashes and brickbats, accompanied by wrecked signboards, thanks to the reign of terror that Hefajat-e-Islam unleashed on Sunday night.
The cluster of corporate houses in the area was not spared, either — the exterior of most of them were badly defaced.
A particularly unforgettable sight was that of a BRAC Bank ATM booth, which was mercilessly ravaged. Thankfully, the mob could not get access to the safe.
“Four other booths of the bank were vandalised, but not as badly as that one. They just had their exterior destroyed,” said Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, head of communication and service quality of BRAC Bank. The bank is yet to assess the losses of this spell of hooliganism.
But Md Zakir, a snack vendor on a four-wheeler rickshaw van, has. “They [the Hefajat men] were just so cold-blooded. They burned down my van despite desperate pleas — all my investment is gone now.”
The sole bread-earner of a family of four, he has no idea now where his next meal ticket would come from. “I don’t know how I’ll survive,” said a disconsolate Zakir.
Hasnat, who has a roadside tea stall, is in the same boat. “They burnt down all the makeshift shops in the area, the only source of income for poor people like us. How do they expect us to get by, now?”
Some 350 makeshift shops adjacent to the Baitul Mukarram Mosque were set on fire, said Atiur Rahman, vice-president of Baitul Mukarram Traders Group. “It was a scene straight off their worst nightmare.”
Twelve jewellery shops in the complex, too, were vandalised, said Dilip Roy, president of Bangladesh Jewellers Samity.
Altogether, Rahman estimates, the losses would be no less than Tk 15 crore.
Branches of Azad Products and Janata Bank opposite Baitul Mukarram were not left alone, either.
“They wanted to enter the shop to set it on fire. Failing to get in, they hurled bricks and torches inside,” Mostafa Kamal, assistant general manger of the Azad Products store, said. The damages stand at Tk 15 lakh, he added.
Abul Barkat, chairman of Janata Bank, said the state-owned bank registered a general diary demanding compensation worth Tk 5.4 crore.
“I will ask my board of directors to help small book shop owners at Paltan as part of our corporate social responsibility,” he added.
Many of the street vendors had already started their preparations for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, said Sirajul Islam, convenor of Purana Paltan Hawkers’ Association.
“I borrowed money to buy 700 pieces of childrenswear, which I expected to sell during Ramadan. Now, there is nothing left,” said Abul Kasem, a makeshift stall owner in front of the Bank Asia headquarter in Paltan. “How can I do business ahead of Eid,” he said, weeping.
Bilal Hossain, who has three shops in the area, had all of them gutted. “I have lost Tk 8 lakh. I am completely ruined.”
Around 175 makeshifts shops in this part of Paltan were destroyed, Islam said.
“There was almost no transaction in the principal branch on Sunday, as clients could not come here due to the rally,” said Md Fazlur Rahman, managing director of AB Bank.
Fearing for their lives, the throngs of office goers to Motijheel stayed holed up in their place of work — all evening.
“A few of us stayed at a nearby residential hotel, but the rest were stranded inside the office,” said Huq of BRAC Bank.
Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, wondered how political gatherings were allowed at the country’s business district, the heart of the economy, in the first place.
“What we have seen is anarchy in the name of peaceful political programme,” he said, while urging the government to ban such congregation in the area from now on.
Rokia Afzal Rahman, president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dhaka, echoed Ahmed’s views. “There are other places in the city where political programmes can be confined to.”

News Link: Brought to knees


15. Hefajat’s barbarity

THE wanton violence and destruction perpetrated by Hefajat-e-Islam on Sunday and Monday defies logic and description. We wonder what measure of madness can overcome a group of people who, in the name of ventilating their demands, can go berserk and indulge in senseless destruction of public and private property. They behaved as if they were in an enemy territory. We condemn this in the strongest possible terms.
Nearly a hundred government and private vehicles were put on fire, and hundreds of shops in an around the Shapla Chattar area suffered the same fate at their hands. Whose property were they burning? Whose livelihood were they destroying? By creating mayhem, by destroying public and private assets, by turning a part of the capital into a battle-zone, Hefajat has blatantly violated its democratic right, and for which, we feel, it owes an apology to the nation.
We respect Hefajat’s right to hold its own views on different socio-political-religious issues, with which we of course do not agree, but that does not give it the right to resort to setting public and private property on fire or to resort to criminal activities as a means to have their demands met by the government.
No political party or socio-political group has the right to hold the people to ransom to coerce an elected government to meet its demand. We have seen their demands ventilated on 5 April of this year and we see no reason why that programme should have been replicated a month later, and that too topped up in violence. If it is the 13 point demands that Hefajat wants the government to implement than the PM has articulated the government’s point of view in this regard. And if there are any disagreements on that, the only civilised norm would have been to engage the government without threatening to bring it down or giving ultimatums for dire consequences.
We are constrained to say that instead of showing respect to Islam and upholding its image, which the group claims is its intention, its gratuitous exploitation of the religion has not only denigrated it but have also cast the group as one that adheres to violence rather than peace which is the they very fundamental of Islam.



16. Copies of holy Quran burnt, small traders rendered destitute

Roadside clothes dealers stand on their charred goodies near Baitul Mokarram National Mosque after Hefazat arsonists torched them on Sunday night. Reaz Ahmed Sumon
 
The whole of Paltan, Motijheel, Bijoynagar and Dainik Bangla areas at the city heart turned into war-torn places after Sunday’s rampages by rowdy Hefazat activists amid clashes with members of law-enforcing agencies.

Five multi-storey buildings and more than 700 shops and makeshift stalls were set afire, forcing nearly thousand shop owners to bite the dust within a day.

The areas bore signs of sheer violence even on Monday night.

The Islamists went vandalising, torching, looting and pillaging the roadside stalls from Paltan to Dainik Bangla, Bijoynagar to Nightingale intersection and GPO to Stadium Market areas.

Scattered ravages were found lying in Motijheel, Shapla Chattar, Baitul Mukarram areas as the glaring signs of their sabotage.

They vandalised and torched General Post Office (GPO), the second floor of Baitul Mukarram market, CPB office in Mukti Bhaban, Rangs Bhaban and KFC in Paltan area.

The vandals also set fire to Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation that shares spaces with Azad Products, Ideal Products and a commercial bank.

At around 8:00pm, Hefazat activists burnt the second floor of the 10-storey building. The fire fast spread to the third floor.

Firefighters, however, managed to douse the flames.

Hefazat men also set ablaze 12 vehicles parked inside the state-owned financing agency and vandalised several ATM booths.

They uprooted road dividers, trees and lamp posts and put up roadblocks from Paltan intersection to Shapla Chattar to bar lawmen from reaching the scene.

Hefazat men set alight 50 bookstalls that sell holy Qur’an and other religious books at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.

Fire spread to the jewellers of the mosque market on Sunday night which damaged 40 shops.

They set fire to the transport pool of the establishment ministry in Dainik Bangla area where 53 buses were kept.

Shamim, a footpath hawker, said, “I’ve been doing business here [Baitul Mukarram] for the last 17 years but have never seen such acts of vandalism, perpetrated by Hefazat men, Sunday.”

“Hefazat arsonists torched my shop. I’ve lost everything in the fire. I don’t know how to be back on my feet and run the business again,” he said crying.

Around 190 temporary shops outside the jewellers were completely gutted, causing a huge loss of the valuables worth over Tk 4 crore, Shamim claimed.

Amin, proprietor of a charred shop, said, “I had been running a bookstore of religious books. I along with others put up the shutters and left the place after police order.”

But in the evening, he said, Hefazat activists had set our book stores on fire. “I’ve lost everything. How would I run my family? I seek justice from Allah for this loss.”

In the name of protecting Islam, Hefazat men destroyed everything, Amin added.

Mamun, owner of Shirin Publications, said, “Burning holy Qur’an and Hadith books are just like disrespecting the religion.”

Milon Khan, vice-president of Baitul Mukarram business group, said miscreants burnt down several makeshift shops on Sunday night.

The flames spread to the jewellers’ market and damaged at least 40 shops, he told daily sun. “Of the 40 shops, 6 were damaged badly.”

He claimed the damage of the fire would be worth Tk 20 crore.

Khalilur Rahman, a bus driver of the ministry concerned, said Hefazat men set fire to 26 buses while 16 buses were damaged fully.

News Link: http://www.daily-sun.com/index.php?view=details&type=tv-guide&pub_no=489&cat_id=1&menu_id=1&news_type_id=1&news_id=109170


17. The programme of Hefazat
 
“If 10 million people gather at a rally, you have to understand that there is no government in the country. Politicians are prone to exaggeration. People get confused about the statements made by the politicians at times. Statistics provided by them are also not correct at times. I personally know eight Hefazat leaders, out of 40 who delivered speeches in the Sunday rally, had directly participated in Afghan war on behalf of Taliban. I have mentioned the issue in one my books in 2005.”

Awami League leader and former information minister Prof Abu Sayeed made the observation on a talk show titled ‘News and Views’ on a private TV channel, Bangla Vision, on Sunday night. Adviser to the BNP chairperson Adv Azam Khan also took part in the show anchored by journalist Manjurul Islam.

At the beginning of the show, the anchor asked the discussants, “Hefazat-e-Islam’s Dhaka seize programme was supposed to be peaceful. But what did we see? We saw violence and torching, several persons even died. Toward what direction we are moving?”

In reply, Azam Khan said, “At the beginning, I strongly condemn the attack on Hefazat rally made by Chhatra League-Jubo League men. This kind of attack is nothing but medieval barbarism. Around 10 million people joined the Hefazat rally today. Without any provocation, BCL and Jubo Dal activists attacked the Hefazat activists. At least, 10 people were killed during the clash.”

At that time, the anchor interrupted, “But we have not seen in the newspapers that 10 were killed or 10 million people joined.”

Azam Khan replied, “AL general secretary Syed Ali Ashraf termed the Hefazat as Razakar, Al-Badr and anti-liberation. He cannot say that. Syed Ashraf was not present during the liberation war. Those who directly participated in the war are not the only freedom fighters. Those who provided the freedom fighters with food and shelter are also freedom fighters.”

In response to the comment of the anchor that around 3pm-4pm the situation was under control, Prof Abu Sayeed said, “Why the Hefazat rally turned into a sit-in? There are some secret purposes behind turning Hefazat rally into a sit-in programme. It has a different aim. Hefazat resorted to sit-in programme just after Khaleda Zia extended their support. The main purpose of Hefazat is not to maintain (Hefazat) Islam. Among their 13-point demand, eight are not supported by the constitution, the rest are about culture.”

News Link: The programme of Hefazat



18. Two killed during Hefajat attacks buried at villages


Wife of armyman Saidur Rahman, who was killed during Hefajat attack in Hathazari of Chittagong, breaks down after the body was taken to his village home in Pirgachha of Rangpur yesterday. PHOTO: STAR
Wife of armyman Saidur Rahman, who was killed during Hefajat attack in Hathazari of Chittagong, breaks down after the body was taken to his village home in Pirgachha of Rangpur yesterday. PHOTO: STAR
An army personnel, killed in attack by Hefajat-e Islam activists in Chittagong district on Monday, was laid to rest at his family graveyard in Rangpur yesterday morning.
Earlier, a pall of gloom descended on the area when the body of Md Saidur Rahman, 35, a sergeant of Bangladesh Army at Chittagong Cantonment, reached his home at Haricharan village in Pirgachha upazila, reports our correspondent.
The namaz-e-janaza of Saidur was held in front of his home attended by AKM Sarwar Jahan, upazila nirbahi officer, Arman Hossain, officer in-charge at Piragachha police station and others.
He was then buried with state honour, said family members.
Saidur, who was killed while performing his duty in front of Hathazari upazila health complex, left behind wife, daughter and mother to mourn his death.
Meanwhile, a member of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), killed in a clash with Hefajat men in Narayanganj district on Monday, was laid to rest at his family graveyard in Kurigram yesterday afternoon.
The body of Lovelu Hossain, son of Sobhan Ali of Shaljhor village in Bhurungamari upazila was brought to his home by a helicopter of Bangladesh Army at around 12:00pm, reports our Kurigram correspondent.
Battalion commander of 45 BGB in Kurigram Lt. Col. Md Ziaul Haque Khaled, UNO Ershadul Ahshan Habib and others were present when the body was handed over to the family members.





19. How could they do it?



The wreckage of parked cars at House Building in Motijheel yesterday. They were all burnt on Sunday during the Hefajat-e Islam rampage in the area. Photo: Amran Hossain
The wreckage of parked cars at House Building in Motijheel yesterday. They were all burnt on Sunday during the Hefajat-e Islam rampage in the area. Photo: Amran Hossain
Hawkers and small entrepreneurs doing business for decades around the Baitul Mukarram Mosque and Paltan had never experienced what happened on May 05, 2013.
Coming back to their business stocks yesterday, all they found was ashes.
During the daylong clashes with law enforcers, Hefajat-e Islam activists burned down around three to four thousand floating shops in the area on Sunday.
Fifty-five-year-old Abdullah, who had been selling books on the footpath in front of Moni Singh-Farhad Smriti Trust Bhaban for 35 years, has witnessed many political commotions in his life.
“When we see trouble we just pack up our goods in polythene and leave it on one side of the footpath. No one has ever looted or set fire to our goods before. This has happened for the first time,” he said.
“We had never imagined they would burn our goods,” said Mohammad Sirajul Islam, 25, who sells files and folders on the footpath. “They torched everything indiscriminately. They did not even spare the Holy Quran.”
“If they had any conscience at all, they could not have torched books,” said Abdullah, who sells books on law and hadith. Abdullah seemed lost as he had no idea how he would finance his children’s education.
Mohammad Belal, whose shop for caps, essences and prayer mats was gutted, said, “Even people from other religions would not disrespect the Holy Quran and hadith books the way the Hefajat activists did it.”
The Janata Bank’s branch on the ground floor of the House Building Finance Corporation has become a charcoal skeleton.
The bank had lost furniture and electronics worth about Tk 5 crore, said one of its officials.
Mohammad Harun Sheikh, the bank’s security guard, was inside when the Hefajat men torched the establishment after 5:00pm. “I escaped through the rear exit,” he said.
Many office personnel in the surrounding buildings were trapped in their respective offices. “We all went to our chairman’s office and stayed there when shells of rubber bullets began to hit our windows,” said Rumana Sultana, an employee of Probashi Palli, situated on the seventh floor of the HBFC building.
“When they torched the ground floor, all of us came hurrying down. For the first time I realised how garment workers feel when there is a fire,” said Rumana, standing at the backyard of the building which looked like a graveyard of burned vehicles.
She feels that the government did the right thing by not letting the Hefajat activists stay at Shapla Chattar.
Mohammad Firoz and Mohammad Ripon, who lost their hardware and toy shop right below the foot overbridge of Paltan, also felt the same way.
“It is beyond imagination what they would have done if they were allowed to stay,” Ripon said.
They burned down the Janata Bank and would have done the same to the Sonali Bank, he added.
The small business entrepreneurs, office-goers and pedestrians echoed Ripon, thanking the government for taking the right step and protecting people from further destruction by Hefajat-e Islam.







20. Rampages On Commercial Streets


Rampages On Commercial Streets
Numerous large and small business houses — from banks to fast food restaurants, ATM booths, retail stores and makeshift shops on the roadside — came under attacks during the post-blockade rampages by Hefajat-e Islam activists in the capital on Sunday. The clashes accompanied by arson and vandalism began at noon and continued till midnight across the main commercial areas of Motijheel, Dilkusha, Paltan, Topkhana Road, Arambag, Naya Paltan, Bijoynagar, Fulbaria and Gulistan. Photographers captured the hallmarks of mayhem on camera yesterday morning.
Rampages On Commercial Streets

Rampages On Commercial Streets

Rampages On Commercial Streets

Rampages On Commercial Streets

Rampages On Commercial Streets

News Link: Rampages On Commercial Streets







21. How flush-out took place




How flush-out took place
Before the law enforcers kicked off a joint operation at 2:37am yesterday, Additional Police Commissioner Maruf Hasan welcomed several hundred members of Rapid Action Battalion and police standing in queues opposite to Janata Bank Bhaban road at Motijheel.
“We will disperse them as they have out-lived their permitted time and now occupying the road illegally. We will arrest them if necessary. But we will not open fire unnecessarily. We are strong enough, you must keep your spirit high, we will win Inshallah,” Maruf said in his brief speech to the members of police and Rab.
The operation boss was also heard telling his fellow colleagues: “We will not use that many bullets … we will use only shotguns and teargas, but no exaggerated usage of shotguns.”
A gas grenade was thrown first at around 2:50am near the Hefajat activists’ makeshift knee-high wall which they made by uprooting road dividers and roadside bricks.
The forefront police and Rab members, however, had to step back from their position for a while as the wind from opposite direction blew the gas towards them.
Around 3:00pm, Rab and policemen marched slowly towards the Hefajat men who were seen and heard singing Islamic songs and offering munajat at eight to 10 yards from the law enforcers at the Janata Bank end.
Then, with a barrage of teargas, rubber bullets, sound grenades and shotgun shells, roughly five to six hundred cops and Rab members moved slowly towards the Hefajat gathering.
Within 10 to 12 minutes, Hefajat activists who were leading the gathering left the scene, trailing colleagues running for cover.
A large number of Hefajat activists including some minor boys took shelter at Sonali Bank Bhaban and an adjacent building.
Around 3:15am, police reached the centre of the Hefajat rally — Shapla Chattar — where they built a makeshift stage on two trucks put across each-other.
The Daily Star correspondents witnessed over 60-70 Hefajat activists, who failed to find cover and came under indiscriminate truncheon charge by Rab and police members. Some of them suffered serious injuries as rubber bullets hit their legs, faces, chests and hands.
From FBCCI building to Dutch Bangla Bank branch and an ATM booth at Shapla Chattar intersection, The Daily Star correspondents found another seven or eight injured Hefajat-e Islam activists lying on roads and in front of an ATM booth.
Rab and police members were seen giving water to an injured. Another Rab member put some plastic sheet under the head of another injured, who suffered injuries on his face, trying to comfort him. The time was 3:20pm. When the correspondents returned to these places an hour later, there were no injured there.
When Rab and Police members reached Shapla Chattar at 3:15am, they found four bodies on planks of wood wrapped in plastic sheets.
On Sunday, one of The Daily Star correspondents, who covered the Hefajat rally standing right beside the makeshift stage from 3:00pm, had seen two bodies being brought in — one at 6:30pm and another at 8:00pm.
After the second body was brought before the stage, a Hefajat leader declared via the microphone at 8:08pm that Shapla Chattar will be named “Shaheed Jubair Chattar”. This triggered huge excitement at the gathering.
It could not be known how and where the two people died.
A Rab official yesterday told The Daily Star that the joint operation was launched simultaneously from two ends — one from Janata Bank end and another from Notre Dame College to flush out Hefajat activists.
At least four armoured personnel carriers and two riot trucks were also used. As part of the operation’s strategy, law enforcers used sound grenades and gas grenades to frighten the Hefajat activists during the operation.
The Daily Star correspondents met many Hefajat activists who came out of Sonali Bank building and an adjacent building after the end of operation around 4:50am.
Many Hefajat activists asked The Daily Star correspondents for directions to Matuail, Mymensingh, Tangail, Jatrabari and many other places as they did not know how to get home. Many even embraced law enforcers in gratitude for not hurting them.
The number of Hefajat activists there was believed to be over one lakh around 9:00pm on Sunday but during the operation, a little over 35,000 were there. Many had left the rally before midnight and around 7:45pm when the police forced a large section to leave.
The Daily Star correspondents could not follow the operation launched from Notre Dame College end until Rab and police involved in that flank reached Shapla Chattar.
During the operation, law enforcers were seen facing almost no resistance except for incoming brick chips.
However, around 4:05am a group of Hefajat leaders, who were hiding behind the wall of People’s Insurance Bhaban near Bangabhaban, swooped on a policeman when a small group of policemen was passing.
The assaulted policeman succumbed to his injury at 4:20am at Rajarbagh Police Lines Hospital, sources at the hospital said.
The operation ended around 5:00am when several hundred Hefajat activists came out of different buildings in queues, some with hands above their heads.
Some police and Rab members were also seen helping the wounded get down from roofs of different structures.

8 comments:

  1. Very well written blog. BD government should declare them as a terrorist group and stop all of their finance. I am sure some foreign agencies funding these terrorist groups in Bangladesh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some politicians specially leading against party are backing them here as a part of gaining votes from these blind followers for being victorious in upcoming parliament election, that is making the problem more complex now.

      Delete
  2. Very very well written. This terrorists should be banned forever

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. And yes, I agree with you on this ground.

      Delete
  3. You forgot to mention burning of 53 GOVT buses. Please include that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your suggestion, this post will be updated soon.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Thank you. And please twit this post to all the news addresses from your twitter account or send it to all the email addresses of international news sites.

      Delete