Bangladesh Awami League’s four front organisations, including banned student front Bangladesh Chhatra League, youth front Bangladesh Awami Juba League, volunteer front Bangladesh Awami Swechasebak League and worker front Jatiya Sramik League, on Sunday failed to impose its countrywide strike, protesting at what they said ‘Gopalganj mass killing’.
At least five people were killed and scores were injured in a series of clashes between members of the law enforcement agencies and activists of the Awami League in Gopalganj district town on July 16 over a National Citizen Party rally.
The AL front organisations called the strike, demanding the cancellation of ‘illegal tribunal’ and ouster of ‘fascist Yunus government’.
Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government assumed office on August 8, 2024, after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina-led authoritarian Awami League government on August 5 past year in a mass uprising.
On May 12, the interim government banned all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated, allied and like-minded organisations until the completion of the trials of the party and its leaders by the International Crimes Tribunal for atrocities during the July uprising.
In the early hours of Sunday, a handful number of activists of banned BCL torched tiers on parts of roads and highways in districts, including Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Cumilla, Sylhet and Munshiganj.
Two buses were torched on Saturday night hours before the strike – one Bihanga company bus parked at Mirpur-12 in the capital at about 8:00pm on Saturday and another seized bus at the Karimpur highway police station in Faridpur at about 11:30pm, according to police officials.
Neither Pallabi police officer-in-charge Shafiul Islam nor Karimpur highway police station officer-in-charge Md Salauddin Chowdhury confirmed about the Awami League activists’ involvement in setting fire to the buses.
Pallabi OC Shafiful, however, said that they had arrested some people in this connection.
While talking to reporters at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka following the core committee meeting on law and order on Sunday, home adviser retired Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that only two buses were set on fire in the Awami League’s countrywide strike and ‘it is sabotage’.
A BCL activist was arrested while attempting to set fire to a bus in the capital’s Shyampur area at about 4:00am on Sunday, said a press release issued by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
DMP spokesperson Talebur Rahman said that he did not have data how many was arrested centring the strike of Awami League.
The DMP in another statement said that social media posts claiming setting fire to buses at Azimpur and Gulistan in the capital were false as those were videos of previous incidents.
Ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024, amid the student-led mass uprising.
