Though they’re allies, the BNP had been looking for an ISSUE to legitimise its bond with war criminal Jamaat-e-Islami. And throughout February, it tried to malign the OCCUPY SHAHBAGH movement as Jamaat and its like-minded Islamist parties are doing through different propaganda.

The BNP’s latest programme was announced Monday afternoon just after the explosion of several handbombs near its rally at Naya Paltan. Interestingly, Mirza Fakhrul declared the hartal in a way that he knew beforehand of the blast.

I guess it was pre-planned as 10 bombs were found at the BNP office in a police raid! After the anniuncement, BNP men clashed with police and charged several bombs. Party insiders say there were many Jamaat-Shibir activists present at the rally.

Quite a show to call hartal

বিএনপির কার্যালয়ে পুলিশের হানা

The law enforcers detained several top BNP leaders from the party office building including Mirza Fakhrul.

It should be mentioned that there’s an international conference scheduled for Tuesday & Wednesday when representatives from 51 countries will join to discuss on population. It’s part of a UN programme.

BNP has been opposing the govt since mid-2009, and since June 2011 has been demonstrating for a caretaker govt after it was abolished in parliament. Many people including me, the media and a quarter in the AL also favour the CG system, but they won’t like to join hands with the BNP.

Jamaat is not declaring any open protest programme now but its supporters are resorting to violence — attack on the state machinery, pro-liberation people and the symbols of our independence — almost every day, especially following the verdict in Quader Mollah case, death of blogger Razib and death sentence of Sayedee.

The govt is in a fix now about using force on the Jamaat-BNP gangs since excesses would put its role in a questionable state and not using force might cause more harm of the people. But I can’t accept detention of Mirza Fakhrul as it’d give the BNP-Jamaat another chance to indulging in violence. Paramilitary force BGB has been deployed.

The situation at the mass sit-ins is also tense due to the series of attacks. Latest, pro-Jamaat Islamist party Hefazot-e-Islam (custodian of Islam) has declared a hartal for March 13 in Ctg when the SHAHBAGH leaders are supoosed to join a Mass Rally in the port city where the protests began a day after Dhaka. The radical Islamist party says it would resist the atheists. It has also called a rally to thwart the people’s protest that demands death penalty of all war criminals including the Janaat top brass who in 1971 were involved in the planning and execution of genocide, rape, arson and looting against Bangladeshis. They publicly worked for Pakistan army.

Jamaat supporters across the country are still attacking on police and people of the Hindu community, who they suspect are pro-Awami League and therefore, against Jamaat-Shibir.

Their attacks are so brutal that even the Jamaat aides like the US State Dept, HRW, Amnesty and the UK govt could not refrain themselves from denouncing Jamaat atrocities which they’re carrying out in the name of protesting against the International Crimes Tribunal.

Meanwhile, the process of banning Jamaat-Shibir has been deferred by at least a month as the High Court today gave both the state and the defence one month to hear the pending petition. It’s the most frustrating news of the year!!! And, it also increases panic among people who are non-violent.

It semms that the AL is not ready to hadle this situation.

As of 10pm, BNP-Jamaat supporters in many places across the country have started violent attacks and taking out protest processions in support of Tuesday’s hartal so that people refrain from coming out for work during the shutdown.

Note: BNP is the party which allowed Jamaat politics in Bangladesh and AL held caretaker movement with Jamaat for three months but later regretted.

The allegations raised against the tribunal and the govt by BNP & Jamaat are same.