Senior Correspondent
Police took position at the central office of Bangladesh Jasad in Dhaka on Saturday as the party prepared to hold a programme marking the anniversary of the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Jasad leaders accused police of blocking the programme and attempting to lock the office. Police said they had received information about a planned event but had not authorised any programme at the premises.
Bangladesh Jasad Standing Committee member Mushtaq Hossain made the allegation at about 4pm.
“Police are stationed there to thwart the party programme and to lock the building,” he said.
Mazharul Islam, assistant commissioner of police for the Ramna zone, said officers had learned that Jasad planned to hold an event at the office but had not received permission for it.
“We heard that they would hold a programme there, but we have no permission for any kind of programme there,” he said.
Asked whether police had been deployed at the office, Mazharul said it was not a formal deployment.
“This is not a deployment. Police are remaining alert so that no untoward incident takes place around any programme,” he said.
Bangladesh Jasad had scheduled a programme for 5pm at its central office on Topkhana Road to pay tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The party on Friday strongly condemned the Aug 15, 1975 killings, describing the incident as “an indelible stain” on Bangladesh’s history.
“Bangladesh Jasad believes that this stain on the nation can be removed only by ensuring the rule of law, justice and democracy in the country,” it said in a statement.
Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) President Goutam Shil, who was at the Jasad office, described the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family as a tragic chapter in the country’s history.
He said several members of Mujibur Rahman’s family were also killed in the Aug 15 massacre, and alleged that people were being prevented from holding programmes to pay tribute to the victims and remember those killed.
Jasad leaders said criticism of the Awami League, Mujibur Rahman or the subsequent rule of Sheikh Hasina should not be conflated with attempts to erase a historical event.
They said political criticism of the Awami League, Mujibur Rahman and Hasina’s government was legitimate, but that should not justify removing the Aug 15 killings and the victims from Bangladesh’s history.
Mujibur Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s independence struggle and the country’s first president, was assassinated along with several members of his family on Aug 15, 1975.
The day was observed as National Mourning Day during the Awami League’s 15-year rule.
In 2024, the then interim government cancelled the public holiday marking Aug 15 as National Mourning Day. The BNP government, which came to power in February this year, has retained that decision.
The police presence at the Jasad office came as the party sought to hold a commemoration despite the cancellation of the national holiday. While Jasad leaders described the police action as an attempt to prevent their programme, police said they were acting to prevent any possible disturbance.
