BNP, Jamaat clash over campaigning in Mirpur

Activists of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami clashed in the capital’s Mirpur area yesterday over election campaigning, leaving several people injured.

Witnesses said the clash began around 4:00pm in the South Pirerbagh area when a group of Jamaat activists were campaigning near the Mubarak Mosque.

When the Jamaat activists attempted to enter a 10-storey building named “Heaven Tower”, a group of BNP activists confronted them.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Abdul Alim, a security guard at the building, said the BNP men obstructed the Jamaat activists, arguing that electioneering is prohibited before January 22.

Idris Ali, former general secretary of the building’s flat owners’ association, alleged that Jamaat workers had been going door-to-door, asking families to vote for them.

“They have campaigned in this area and this building several times before. We even hung a notice board at the entrance stating ‘Political discussions and campaigning are forbidden here’, but they ignored it,” he said.

Several local BNP leaders alleged that Jamaat activists, while campaigning, were asking for residents’ mobile numbers and National Identity cards.

Witnesses said a heated exchange ensued between the two groups. At one point, female Jamaat activists took shelter in the building’s garage.

The situation eventually cooled down, and both groups left the spot.

However, a second round of clashes erupted shortly before Maghrib prayers.

Local BNP leaders alleged that Jamaat activists surrounded some BNP members in front of the Mubarak Mosque, accusing them of “confining” Jamaat workers inside the building.

The Jamaat activists reportedly beat and chased the BNP men.

Shariful Islam Milon, former general secretary of Kafrul Thana Jubo Dal, said, “Jamaat came with 100–150 people in front of the mosque and chased our men. Hearing this, we gathered about 1,000–1,500 people.”

Locals said BNP activists gathered in the alleys around the mosque and chanted anti-Jamaat slogans. Many activists from both sides entered the mosque, but witnesses confirmed that no confrontation took place inside the prayer hall.

Shortly after, police and army personnel arrived at the scene and brought the situation inside and outside the mosque under control.

Milon claimed that six BNP activists were injured in the clash, with three receiving hospital treatment.

At a press conference around 10:30pm, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir Secretary General Sibgatullah claimed that BNP activists had harassed “some women” in Mirpur earlier in the day. He did not specify whether the women were linked to Jamaat.

He also alleged that when some Shibir activists, along with “numerous youths”, went to protest the incident, “BNP terrorists” launched a surprise attack on them.

Sixteen Jamaat and Shibir activists were allegedly injured in the attack.

“When the locals put up resistance, they [BNP men] fled the scene,” Sibgatullah said.

Another Shibir leader, Azizur Rahman Azad, claimed that his party activists were attacked with sharp weapons inside the mosque.

Contacted, Mizanur Rahman, assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Mirpur Zone, said, “I have learned through the police station that some junior-level Jamaat activists were campaigning in the afternoon. BNP workers went there and obstructed them. This dispute eventually spilled over into the mosque area.

“I heard there was a lot of pushing and shoving between the two groups. I am not yet aware if anyone was injured.”

South Pirerbagh is located inside the Dhaka-15 constituency, where Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman is contesting against BNP candidate Shafiqul Islam Khan Milton.