Dhaka (TDI): Violence erupted on Wednesday at a rally of Bangladesh’s youth-led National Citizen Party in the southern town of Gopalganj, with four people killed and more wounded.
The government placed Gopalganj under curfew from 8pm today until 6pm tomorrow, after the killings during day-long violence between alleged cadres of the Awami League and its banned student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), and law enforcers.
According to eyewitnesses and hospital staff, clashes broke out when Awami League supporters allegedly attempted to disrupt the NCP rally. Soon after, army personnel and police moved in to restore order. Four units of the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) were deployed around 5pm, and Section 144 was enforced to prevent gatherings.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who currently serves as the country’s interim leader, condemned the violence. He claimed that members of the NCP, police, and journalists were all attacked, and that vehicles were vandalized in the chaos.
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“Blocking young people from commemorating their peaceful movement is a disgraceful attack on their basic rights,” Yunus said, squarely blaming the Awami League and BCL for the violence.
The Awami League alleged that one of its members was killed by army fire during the unrest, further complicating the narrative of what happened on the ground.
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The NCP, whose leadership includes many of the student activists from last year’s uprising, had called for the rally as part of a larger nationwide campaign.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
