Violence erupts at Bangladesh youth rally; four killed
DHAKA: Violence erupted on Wednesday at a rally of Bangladesh's youth-led National Citizen Party in the southern town of Gopalganj, with four people killed and more injured according to local media. Deadly student-led protests forced long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India in August last year, and since then there have been delays over promised reforms, growing protests and political division.
Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took over as interim head, said in a post on X that members of the NCP, police and media were attacked during a peaceful rally on Wednesday, with cars vandalized and individuals assaulted. 'Preventing young citizens from peacefully holding a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of their revolutionary movement is a shameful violation of their fundamental rights,' he said, blaming Hasina's political party the Awami League and its student group for Wednesday's violence.
The clashes were triggered after members of Hasina's Awami League attempted to foil a rally by the National Citizens Party (NCP), made up of many students who spearheaded the uprising last year. Three people were killed after police got involved, and 17 others sustained various injuries, including bullet wounds, said Monoj Baral, a nurse at the Gopalganj District Hospital. 'One of the deceased was identified as Ramjan Sikdar. Families took away two other bodies,' Baral told AFP. Gopalganj authorities imposed a curfew in the district following the violence.
Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus termed the attempt to foil the NCP rally 'a shameful violation of their fundamental rights'. 'This heinous act... will not go unpunished,' a statement from his office said. The NCP was scheduled to hold the rally as part of their countrywide 'July March' program to commemorate the uprising anniversary, local media reported. Gopalganj is a stronghold of the Awami League, as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the founding president of Bangladesh — hailed from this district, and Hasina also contested elections from this constituency. Hasnat Abdullah, an NCP coordinator, said those rallying took refuge at a police station after being attacked.
'We don't feel safe at all. They threatened to burn us alive,' Hasnat said. The NCP has called for a blockade in response to the violence. – Agencies
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