No violence; conditions violated
Not a single incident of violence took place centring the rallies held by the Awami League and the BNP in the capital yesterday, much to the relief of city dwellers.
However, there were violations of the set of conditions imposed by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Monday on the parties for holding their rallies.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. While there were widespread violations of the DMP conditions by the ruling AL men centring their two rallies, the BNP men too flouted the restrictions.
The BNP could not end its rally by 5:00pm, the deadline for ending its programme, as BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia wrapped up her speech there at 5:17pm.
Meanwhile, ignoring the DMP restrictions on processions, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, AL lawmakers Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Aslamul Haque, and Ilias Uddin Mollah were seen leading their processions that joined the AL rallies on Russell Square and on Bangabandhu Avenue.
Contacted, Aslamul Haque said he was not aware of any such restrictions on processions. He claimed that his party men came together to join the rally and that there was nothing wrong with it.
Activists of the AL and its front organisations -- Jubo League, Swechchhasebak League and Bangladesh Chhatra League -- were seen joining the party rallies in processions. Many of them were seen carrying bamboo sticks behind banners, defying the restrictions.
Besides, a group of ruling party men were seen bringing out a motorbike procession in the city prior to joining the rally on Russell Square.
Leaders and activists of Mirpur, Pallabi, and Mohammadpur Thana units of AL used horn speakers on their pick-up trucks, another clear breach of the DMP conditions.
"Who has forbidden us from bringing out processions?" asked Altaf Hossain, president of ward-7 of Dhaka North City Corporation of Jubo League. "Nobody told us about the restrictions," he told The Daily Star.
Mohammad Selim Hossain, an AL activist who joined the procession led by Aslamul, said they brought out a procession and joined the rally on Russell Square to celebrate "victory of democracy day" on this day in 2014.
Around noon at Mirpur-10 intersection, local AL activists set up a stage on an alley and used horn speakers. Later, they held a rally there with local MP Kamal Ahmed Majumder addressing it. A few hundred party men attended the rally held without the permission of the DMP. Some policemen were also seen standing near the stage.
AL completed one of its rallies on Bangabandhu Avenue before 5:00pm, as party General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, who was the chief guest there, wound up his speech at 4:42pm.
But it could not end its other rally on Russell Square within the stipulated time given by the DMP. AL Presidium Member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, who presided over the rally, completed his speech at 5:15pm.
Though the DMP had asked both the parties not to block any roads, activists of AL and its front organisations occupied one side of the Mirpur Road, causing gridlocks.
Asked, two police officers who, among others, were on duty there, declined to comment. However, one of them, wishing anonymity, said, "The home minister himself is present here. So we should not say anything."
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was present until the end of the rally.
The BNP men too violated some of the DMP conditions.
The party set up a podium on the street in front of its central office at Naya Paltan. BNP men occupied both lanes of the road in front of the office, blocking traffic.
Police had asked the BNP to place the podium on the pavement in front of its office and use only one lane of the road.
Many activists of the BNP, Jubo Dal, and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal were seen joining the rally in processions.
Many were seen carrying bamboo sticks under banners and festoons.
Shamsuzzaman Dudu, an adviser to BNP chief Khaleda Zia, told The Daily Star that the main reason behind the restrictions was to make the rallies peaceful and the BNP held the rally peacefully.
Asked about the BNP men occupying both sides of the road in front of their central office, he said it was not possible to accommodate all the people in front of the party office for a rally, which they wanted in Suhrawardy Udyan.
Regarding the processions of BNP men, he said people like to bring out processions for their parties before joining a rally and that it had become a usual political practice of the country.
He also said it was not possible to hold rallies of large parties like AL and the BNP within a strict time frame.
There was no complaint of obstruction to BNP men joining their rally.
Asked about the violations of the DMP conditions, a senior DMP official said there were breaches of some conditions. But they were happy at the end of the day, as the rallies were held peacefully, he said, requesting not to be named.
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