HC-formed body visits Mahasthangarh
Faces protests from mazar committee
A committee formed by the High Court (HC) to recommend ways to protect Mahasthangarh faced rowdy protests from supporters of Mazar Development Committee while visiting the archaeological site in Bogra yesterday.
Some 40 to 50 supporters of the mazar committee staged demonstrations and chanted slogans denouncing the HC move that halted construction work of a building in the vicinity of Mahasthangarh.
A running battle happened between the agitators and law-enforcers. Additional police force and Rab members were deployed in the area to bring the situation under control.
Prof Muntasir Mamun, a teacher of Dhaka University and also a member of the HC-formed committee, told The Daily Star the supporters staged agitation even after the committee members gave a patient hearing to the mazar committee members on Saturday.
“We have been visiting the area for the last two days to find out how best the archaeological site could be protected. We will submit a report in this regard before the High Court soon,” Prof Mamun said.
Some local political leaders, who happen to be the leaders of the mazar committee, including Momtaz Uddin of Awami League and Shariful Islam Jinnah of Jatiya Party also talked with the HC-formed committee on Saturday.
On November 27, 2010, the Mazar committee started constructing a multi-storey building on the Mazar premises violating the Antiquity Act.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments