Bhanga protests over redrawing constituency boundaries postponed until HC hearing

Demonstrators opposing the recent redrawing of constituencies in Faridpur's Bhanga upazila have announced to suspend their protests till Friday.

Robin Sohel, one of the organisers of the protests, made the announcement this afternoon after a meeting with Faridpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Kamrul Hasan Mollah at his office.

A hearing on this issue will be held in the High Court on September 26. The protesters will chalk out next course of plan after the hearing, he said.

The EC on September 4 issued a gazette notification redrawing boundaries of 46 constituencies across the country. As per the EC's new gazette, the Algi and the Hamirdi unions under Bhanga upazila were transferred from Faridpur-4 to Faridpur-2 constituency. Residents of Bhanga upazila have been demonstrating since the EC's gazette was issued.

The demonstrators enforced blockades for several days in Bhanga upazila, suspending train services. The demonstration took a violent turn on September 15, leaving five police vehicles vandalised, 11 motorcycles torched and four people injured.

Later, the demonstrators paused their movement considering public sufferings and the district administration's move to request the EC for fulfilling their demands.

They were set to announce a new programme today.

Following a writ petition, the High Court on September 16 issued a rule questioning the legality of the EC's decision and asked the EC and the government to explain in 10 days why the notification should not be declared illegal.

Meanwhile, former lawmaker Mujibur Rahman Chowdhury, popularly known as Nixon Chowdhury, has once again been made the prime accused in a case filed by the Bhanga upazila administration over last Monday's (September 15) attacks on government establishments during the protests.

Somendra Nath Sarker, a computer operator at the Bhanga Upazila Complex, filed the case against Nixon, along with 26 other named accused and several unidentified people on September 19, said Bhanga Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Ashraf Hossain.

He told reporters that police have already launched drives to arrest those involved.

Alongside Nixon, Hamirdi Union Parishad Chairman Md Khokon Mia, 50; Nixon's cousin and vice-president of Madaripur district Awami League and former chairman of Madaripur Zila Parishad Monir Chowdhury, 52, were accused in the case.

With this, a total of three cases have now been filed over the September 15 violence in Bhanga.