Capital almost cut off from country

 

Thousands of activists and supporters of Hefajat-e Islam take to the street at Ekuria near Buriganga Bridge-1 to make the Dhaka siege programme a success on Sunday. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

The capital city has been virtually cut off from the rest of the country as the leaders and activists of Hefajat-e Islam took position in all the entry points of Dhaka since Sunday morning to press home its 13-point demand.
Thousands of leaders and activists of Hefajat, the Qawmi madrasa-based Islamist group, took to the streets at Amin Bazar, Abdullahpur, Demra, Jatrabari, Kanchpur, Postogola and Babubazar bridges braving rain and brandishing sticks to make their Dhaka siege programme a success.
The organisation has recently been campaigning to realise its 13-point demand that includes stern punishment to “atheist leaders” of the Shahbagh movement.

Meanwhile, Mufti Fayezullah, joint secretary general of Hefajat, told The Daily Star over phone that they will hold a rally in front of the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in the capital in the afternoon.
The decision on whether they will continue the siege programme will be taken from the rally, said several Hefajat leaders and activists from the siege venues.
At all the entry points of the capital, the Hefajat men took part in the demonstration after Fazr prayers wielding national flags, reported our correspondents covering the event.
They are also seen chanting slogans demanding capital punishment to the “atheist bloggers” holding different types of banners and festoons in support of their demands.
On queries, Mehedi Hasan, a teacher of Talora Qawmi Madrasa in Dupchachiya of Bogra told our correspondent that they brought the national flags to dismiss common people’s belief that they have a liaison with anti-liberation forces.
Law enforcers were seen to put up barricades in all the entry points to resist them from entering the city.