Dhaka, Sep 6 (IANS) Bangladesh’s Jatiya Party (JaPa) central office in Dhaka has once again been vandalised and set ablaze by miscreants for the second time in ten days, local media reported on Saturday.
The incident occurred late Friday evening, hours after leaders of another political party, the Gono Odhikar Parishad, held a rally at Shahbagh in the capital, demanding a ban on JaPa.
Confirming the development, Rozina Akhter, duty officer at the control room of the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters, said, “We were informed around 7:00 p.m. that some people hurled bricks and stones at the Jatiya Party office and then set it on fire.”
This marked the second such attack within a week amid a growing political violence across Bangladesh under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
“Suddenly, a few miscreants launched an attack on the Jatiya Party office. They vandalised some furniture inside and set fire,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, Dhaka Tribune, quoted Ramna police station Sub-Inspector (SI) Sajjad Hossain as saying.
JaPa Secretary General Shameem Haider Patwary strongly condemned the attack and said the party holds Gono Odhikar Parishad responsible for it.
“The government should launch a judicial inquiry into the incident. If found guilty, Gono Odhikar’s party registration should be cancelled,” he stated.
Addressing reporters, JaPa Praesidium Member Rezaul Karim took an indirect dig at Gono Odhikar Parishad, stating that those who organised the rally at Shahbagh were behind the attack.
He also alleged that the interim government has failed to provide security and prevent mob attacks. “Jatiya Party was here in Bangladesh, and it will remain in the future,” he added.
However, Gono Odhikar Parishad has refuted the allegations.
Reports suggest that in a similar attack, JaPa’s central office was vandalised and set on fire on August 30, a day after violent clashes broke out between its activists and those of Gono Odhikar Parishad in Kakrail.
Following that attack, the Awami League strongly condemned the vandalism, looting, and arson at the JaPa office.
It also alleged that the incident took place with the direct support of the Yunus regime, under which, mob terrorism is running rampant in Bangladesh.
Since the ouster of the democratically elected government of Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has been gripped by violence and extreme lawlessness under the Yunus–led interim government.
–IANS
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