BCL men swoop on Gono Odhikar Parishad leaders
Gono Odhikar Parishad convener Reza Kibria and member secretary Nurul Haque Nur came under attack at noon on Wednesday while paying respects to the graveyard of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani at his 45th death anniversary at Santosh in Tangail.
The attack—allegedly carried out by Maulana Bhashani Science and Technology University unit Bangladesh Chharta League (BCL)—has left 25 leaders and activists of Gono Odhikar Parishad injured, claimed Shakiluzzaman, joint convener of the Parishad.
Locals said a section of BCL leaders wielding sticks started assaulting the leaders and activists of Gono Parished while they were approaching towards the graveyard of Bhashani with procession led by Reza Kibria and Nurul Haque Nur at around 11:45am.
At one stage of attacking, Reza Kibria got injured with a pelted stone. Later, police took Kibria to a safe place while several leaders including Nurul Haque took shelter in a prison van to escape the attack.
Reza Kibria told Prothom Alo that the attack carried out by BCL was premeditated. Several including female activists were wounded in the attack aiming at Nurul Haque Nur. "Police tried to protect us but they didn’t do so for various reasons."
Maulana Bhashani Science and Technology University unit BCL organising secretary Nibir Pal alleged they (Followers of Kibria and Nurul) carried out attacks on BCL leaders and activists while paying respects to the Bhashani’s graveyard. Later, BCL men resisted the attack, the BCL leader added.