TDS Desk

A group of student-public under the banner of “Anti-Fascism Student, Worker and Public” has besieged the Jatiyo Party headquarters in the capital’s Bijyanagar following a clash with partymen.

Member of the Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Police have arrived on the site to control the situation, our correspondent reports from the spot.

“The student-public set fire to the party’s office. Police has reached the spot and managed to bring the fire under control,” said  Sohel Rana, additional deputy commissioner of Ramna Zone, Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

“No casualties were reported. The situation is now normal,” he added.

Earlier, the protester vandalised and set fire on the JP office. They also painted several grafitti on the walls of the building following the clash with JP men.

The situation escalated after the protesters brought out a procession from the Dhaka University campus towards the JP HQ.

There, they chanted various slogans slamming the JP, which was the main opposition party during the last two terms of the Awami League-led government.

They termed the party as ‘cohort of the AL and India’ as they participated in the last three elections under the AL.

At one point, supporters of JP came out of the office and a clash ensued between the two groups. Later, the protesters set fire and vandalised the JP office.

“Jatiyo Party leaders and activists first threw bricks at us like rain for about 10 minutes. Then we gave chased them and they ran away. Jatiya Party office is now in our possession,” Anwar Hossain, one of the protesters, told The Business Standard.

“Jatiyo Party, like the Awami League, is a cohort of India. They openly announced a rally on 2 November with instigation from Indi. We will fight these cohort organisations even with our lives,” said Islamil Hossain, another protesters.

Shortly after the clash, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement coordinators Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjil Alam announced they would bring out a procession towards the Jatiyo Party headquarters to oust the party.

“The national traitors Jatiyo Party has beaten our brothers in Bijaynagar with weapons, and is rallying with weapons. This time, the overthrow of these traitors is certain,” Hasnat posted in his Facebook profiles simultenously earlier.

In another post, he said, “We will move to Bijayanagar with procession at 8.30 from Raju Bhaskarya. National traitors must be wiped out.”

Sarjis also made a similar post from his Facebook profile around the same time.

The latest development come amid weeks of tension between the leaders of the student movement and the JP.

The student movement coordinator has termed the party as an “ally of the fascists” and warned that they will “crush JP” on the streets.

JP later declared Sarjis and Hasnat as persona non-grata in Rangpur – the party’s main stronghold- earlier this month just ahead a planned visit there by the two coordinators. Later, Sarjis visited the districts as planned but Hasnat did not.

“We will show how the entire student movement, including the two student advisers of the interim government, can shake the ground in Rangpur and crush the efforts of those allies trying to take fight on the streets,” he said on 26 October during the visit to Rangpur- the main stronghold of JP.

Sarjis also condemned the Jatiya Party for legitimising the Awami League government during the national elections in 2014, 2018, and 2024.