e-News® | The NEWS Company…DHAKA, Oct 26, 2014 – A country-wide dawn-to-dusk hartal enforced by the Sammilito Islami Dal, an alliance of Islamic political parties, was observed today demanding arrest of sacked post and telecommunications minister Latif Siddique. The hartal passed off peacefully with no impact of it on the public life.
Hartal activists brought out sporadic processions at different places in the country but there were no reports of large scale violence and untoward incidents at any place in the country during the hartal period. The roads and streets in the capital were found almost normal as different modes of transports plied normally. Besides, different establishments, including shopping malls, markets, government and non-government offices and courts, remained open during the hartal hours.
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police force were deployed at different city points to beef up security in the capital. In Chittagong, additional police forces have been deployed at different city points and there was no reports of untoward incidents during the hartal. The activities remained normal at the port but no transports left the port city of Chittagong.
In Rajshahi, hartal supporters brought out a procession from station area and held a brief meeting at Bindur More in the city. The train communication remained normal but no inter-district buses left the city. In Bogra, hartal was observed peacefully in the district but the local and inter-district transports remained off the roads. In Sirajganj, there was no reports of violence during the hartal period but the bus communication from here to other places remained off. There was no reports of hartal-related violence from Hobiganj, Jenidah, Comilla, Barisal and Kustia districts during the hartal hours. Sammilito Islami Dal gave the government a 15-day ultimatum to arrest Latif Siddique by October 22.
Islamic Party, Khilafat Majlish, Khilafat-e-Islam, Islami Oikya Jote, Nejam-e-Islam, Muslim League and Hefajat-e-Islam, most of those are components of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, announced the hartal on Wednesday. Maulana Zafrullah Khan, Secretary General of the alliance, announced the shutdown programme at a press conference at the National Press Club on Wednesday, as the government has ‘failed’ to arrest Latif Siddique for his offensive remarks within the deadline. Jamaat-Islami Bangladesh on Saturday extended its moral support to today’s hartal.
In a statement, its Nayebe Ameer Prof Mujibur Rahman announced Jamaat’s support to the shutdown and urged the people to intensify the movement demanding Latif’s punishment.