Tensions flared in Pabna on Sunday as activists from Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Chhatra Shibir, staged a mass protest following a violent attack on Ramzan Ali, a local party leader and 1971 freedom fighter.
The protesters surrounded the offices of the District Returning Officer and the Deputy Commissioner, demanding justice for Ali, who was reportedly hacked by political rivals in the Char Shibrampur area of Hemayetpur on Saturday night.
The demonstration began at Pabna’s Shaheed Chattar at 11:30 a.m. Protesters marched through major city roads before staging a sit-in at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The crowd chanted slogans calling for the immediate arrest of those responsible.
The sit-in ended after district administration officials met with protest leaders and assured them that legal action would be prioritized. Speakers at the rally, including Pabna Municipality Jamaat Amir Abdul Latif and Professor Rezaul Karim, accused local Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists of orchestrating the attack.
The attack occurred in the Pabna-5 parliamentary constituency just days before the national election. Witnesses say Ali was ambushed by a group of armed men on Saturday night. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was transferred from Pabna General Hospital to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Pangu Hospital) in Dhaka.
"BNP terrorists are attacking our members because they lack public support," claimed Sadar Upazila Jamaat Secretary Ibrahim Khalil Ainul. "If the perpetrators are not arrested immediately, we will launch a much stricter nationwide program."
While BNP leaders have not yet issued a formal response to the specific allegations, the incident adds to the growing list of clashes between the two parties as they compete for influence ahead of the Feb. 12 polls.
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