NCP activists throw eggs at home of US expat in Shariatpur
A group of youth from a procession hurled eggs targeting the family home of a US expatriate Awami League leader from Naria upazila of Shariatpur.
The incident occurred in the Telipara village of Chamta union in the upazila.
Local leaders of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and National Citizen Party (NCP) led the group of youth. Later, the police disperse them from the spot.
The expatriate is Zahid Hasan, who has long been living in New York. He serves as the science and technology affairs secretary of the US chapter of the Awami League.
Zahid was seen taking part in various protest programmes organised by the Awami League centering the chief adviser’s visit to the US, with some videos of these events circulating on social media.
However, leaders of the NCP and the anti-discrimination student movement alleged that Zahid was involved in misbehaving with the chief adviser’s entourage in New York and in hurling eggs at NCP leaders.
Since yesterday afternoon, people had been gathering in front of Zahid’s ancestral home. As tension increase in the area, police were deployed there.
In the evening, a group led by Ruhul Amin, the chief coordinator of the NCP in Shariatpur district, brought out a protest procession in Telipara village.
Afterwards, several eggs were hurled at Zahid’s house. At the time, the wife of one of Zahid’s brothers was inside the family home.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Imran Al Nazir, former convener of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in Faridpur said, “I posted on Facebook urging to protest the incident of throwing eggs targeting the chief adviser’s entourage. I made a call to socially boycott Zahid Hasan, who was involved in the incident in New York.”
“Later, some of our activists and members of different political parties brought out a procession and hurled eggs at his home and returned,” he added.
When asked about the matter, Ruhul Amin, the chief coordinator of the National Citizen Party (NCP) in Shariatpur district, said, “The entourage of the chief adviser of the interim government was subjected to disgraceful behaviour. Eggs were thrown at our NCP central member secretary, Akhter Hossen. The incident was carried out under the leadership of Zahid Hasan, a leader of the Awami League. We came to his ancestral home in Telipara, Naria, to protest. None of his family members live there, so we could not convey our protest to them. We staged a peaceful stand there and then left the village.”
Officer-in-charge (OC) of Naria police station, Aslam Uddin Molla, told Prothom Alo, “A group of people gathered and brought out a procession near the house of a US expatriate named Zahid. Police dispersed them to keep the situation under control. We have received no reports of any egg-throwing or chaos, nor has anyone lodged such a complaint.”