Supporters of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League were attacked by supporters in Dhaka on Thursday as the party was scheduled to take out a march on the 49th anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Students and the general public in Bangladesh occupied Dhanmondi 32 since the early hours of Thursday to prevent the Awami League from taking out a march to pay homage to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his death anniversary.
The protesting students and citizens patrolled the city while a significant military presence was also on the ground to maintain law and order, supported by police, reported Dhaka Tribune.
Students and locals were on alert, checking anyone they suspected of being affiliated with the Awami League. Local media reported a clash between the protestors and cadres of the Sheikh Hasina's Awami League.
Considered Bangladesh's Father of the Nation and popularly known as 'Bangabandhu', Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated on August 15, 1975. Thursday marks the 49th death anniversary of Bangabandhu for which the Awami League was scheduled to hold a march.
Along with Rahman, most of his family members were also murdered including his wife, Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatun Nesha Mujib; his eldest son, Sheikh Kamal; his second son, Sheikh Jamal; his daughters-in-law, Sultana Kamal and Parveen Jamal Rosy; his youngest son, ten-year-old Sheikh Russell; his younger brother, Sheikh Abu Nasser; his nephew, Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni, along with his pregnant wife, Begum Arju Moni; his brother-in-law, Abdur Rab Serniabat, along with Serniabat’s daughter Baby, son Arif Serniabat, grandson Sukanta Abdullah Babu, and nephew Shaheed Serniabat; and Abdul Naeem Khan Rintu, a cousin of Amir Hossain Amu.
The country typically witnesses large-scale commemorations on this day but the interim government cancelled the national holiday this year aiming to defusing tensions between supporters of the ousted Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its Islamist ally, Jamaat-e-Islami.