The Bangladesh Army launched a crackdown but a number of innocents were killed and Section 144 has been imposed with the situation spiraling out of control.
Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took over as interim head, said in a post on X that members of the National Citizen Party (NCP) [led by the students], police and media were attacked during a peaceful rally on Wednesday, with cars vandalised and individuals assaulted.
Tensions had been brewing since Tuesday over the NCP’s planned rally and march, fuelled by widespread campaigning on social media. The overall situation in the town remains extremely tense. Sources said Islamists had planned the attack against the Awami League coinciding with the July “uprising”.
“Amid total impunity, members of Bangladesh Army can be seen torturing and dragging down a civilian in Gopalganj, to instill a climate of fear across the nation. The ill-fated civilian was among thousands who took to the streets to protest against state-sponsored repression by Yunus regime, including extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests, detention, rise in crime wave and the latest plot to wipe out symbols associated with the founding father of the country Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his birthplace Gopalganj,” read a statement issued by the Awami League.
“We condemn in strongest terms the continuous patronage by the armed forces against their total inaction in face crime wave perpetrated by Yunus-sponsored mob backed by Islamists when historic Dhanmondi 32, where the founding father was assassinated, was demolished by mob and people are killed on streets for refusal to pay extortion. We assert that by involving with this brutal crackdown, Bangladesh Army showed it has forsaken its neutrality,” the Awami League stated.
