A GROUP banded as Students, Workers and People against Fascism attacked the central office of the Jatiya Party at Bijoynagar in Dhaka and set it on fire in the evening on October 31. Witnesses say that the group marched in a torch procession from Raju Memorial in the University of Dhaka to the party office and sat in in front of the office. Half an hour after chases between the protesters and Jatiya Party activists, which left several injured, with the party leaders running for safety, the protesters attacked the office and set fire to the ground floor of the office over allegations that Jatiya Party leaders and activists had attacked the procession. Two fire engines could put out the flames about 8:00pm. After the attack, a ranking organiser of the Students against Discrimination 鈥� which had held protests seeking reforms in civil service job reservations in July that finally flared up into a mass uprising, toppling the Awami League government on August 5 鈥� announced to hold another march from the Raju Memorial to Bijoynagar on allegations that Jatiya Party people had attacked the protesters, but the march was not brought out.
Earlier, protest leaders at a rally before the procession on the University of Dhaka campus referred to the Jaitya Party as 鈥榓n ally of the fascist Awami League鈥�, noting that it does not have the right to do politics. Much earlier in the middle of October, the Jatiya Party declared two ranking coordinators of the Students against Discrimination personae non gratae in Rangpur, considered the Jatiya Party鈥檚 stronghold. There is no denying that the Jatiya Party 鈥� which had supported the Awami League in the formation of the government after the 1996 elections and had all along been a partner of the Awami League since 2006 鈥� had been an ally of the Awami League. There is also no denying that Jatiya Party having declared the Students against Discrimination coordinators personae non gratae is disparaging. Leaders of the Jatiya Party could be investigated and tried for their role in advancing the Awami League鈥檚 fascism. They could even be held to account for creating hindrances to the Students against Discrimination coordinators, who had brought down the Awami League government braving all odds on a path away from fascism and authoritarianism. But what remains more disparaging is the attack on the Jatiya Party office and the way it took place. Besides, the Jatiya Party and its politics are not banned.聽 In view of all this, the attack on the Jatiya Party, which, again, can be tried for its role in advancing the Awami League鈥檚 fascism, should not have happened.
The attack that took place on the central office of the Jatiya Party and any such likely happenings would, rather, tarnish the achievement of the people, especially the student protesters, who went through a string of repressive incidents, including murder, torture, imprisonment, etc not only in July鈥揂ugust but all these 15 years.