Gono Odhikar Parishad blocks Bijoynagar road

The leaders and activists of Gono Odhikar Parishad have brought out a procession in the capital’s Bijoynagar area protesting the attack on the party’s chief Nurul Haque Nur.

They blocked the main road by burning tires and raised various slogans at 3:30pm on Saturday. The march was attended by more than three hundred leaders and activists.

Earlier in the afternoon, 20-25 leaders and activists of July Mancha took out a procession from Bijoynagar- Nightingale intersection in front of the Jatiya Party office.

Their banner read, 'Jatiya procession against the enemies of Bangladesh's sovereignty including the Jatiya Party'. From the procession, the leaders and activists raised slogans like 'Why attack on Nur bhai, the administration must do justice'. The procession took place under the watchful guard of the police.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, Gono Odhikar Parishad started a procession demanding the ban of the Jatiya Party. Rashed, the general secretary of the party, was injured in a clash with JaPa members. Later, a torch procession began and the leaders and activists started a chase and counter-chase with the police carrying bricks, stones and local weapons. A policeman was also injured. The army arrived at the scene to control the situation.

Gono Odhikar Parishad called an emergency press conference at around 9:30 pm. When the leaders and activists were going to the conference venue, members of the law enforcement agencies chased them and at one point, Nurul Haque Nur and other leaders were attacked.

BNP strongly condemned and protested the incident. The party's acting chairman Tarique Rahman also strongly condemned the incident. At the same time, the National Citizen Party (NCP) held a protest procession in the Dhaka University area at night. Jamaat-e-Islami also expressed concern and condemnation.

Gono Odhikar Parishad has announced a nationwide protest programme on Saturday protest the attack on Nurul Haque Nur and his activists.

The ISPR has issued a statement on the incident and Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus inquired about Nurul Haque Nur.