The Amml League (AL) and the Jatiya Party (JP) yesterday separately announced plans for a' half-day hartal In the capital Saturday to protest 'police excesses' against their respective programmes around the Secretariat.
The AL announcement of the half-day shut down came during a party rally yesterday afternoon while the JP announced Its programme at a press conference yesterday evening.
However, yesterday's aglta tions — the AL's sit-in and the Jp-s demonstration around the Secretariat eventually turned the city centre and its adjoining commercial areas including MotIJheel into mini battlefields with sporadic skirmishes between the police and the opposition activists.
More than 150 people, including some AL legislators, were injured and more than one hundred activists belonging to the AL and JP were hurt during
the four-hour clash beginning at I 1 in the morning.
On the other hand, some police personnel received splinter Injuries from cocktail explosions near the Gulistan Police Box and were taken to the Police Hospital immediately. Five youths were reported to have received first aid from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Hundreds of the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles and riot po lice personnel ringed the Secretariat, the central admin istrative seat of the government, from 7:30 am to prevent the agitators from approaching it.
Police did not allow any one to enter areas In and around the Secretariat from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm. The day before, the police advised the owners and drivers of buses, trucks and minibuses to avoid using the roads adjoining the Secretariat.
Police, wearing bullet-proof Jackets and carrying plastic shields, resorted to lathlcharge on the agitators at 11 am when AL activists, led by their party leaders, tried to break the police cordon aL the Zero Point near the GPO) Police used batons -and fired teargas to disperse the AL activists who had been trying to approach the Secretariat from the Gulistan side.
Several thousand AL supporters. in retaliation of the police action, started pelting stones at the policemen. The sound of several cocktail explosions were heard at the time in the area and a police constable — Habibur Rahman — received a shrapnel injury. The violence spread instantly throughout the central and older parts of the city.
Angry demonstrators fought pitched battles in the Gulistan. Motijheel. Purana Paltan. Nawabpur. English Road and Joykali Mandir areas. A BRTC bus — Dhaka Cha-1564 — was burned down by the agitators near the Joykail Mandlr. Some private vehicles were also damaged in the area. An office of the Judo Dal. the ruling party's youth wing, at Kaptan Bazar was also set on fire.
A group of AL activists managed to come to the Baltul Mukarram mosque premises at around 12:30 pm where police were seen lobbing teargas shells to disperse the demonstrators chanting pro-AL slogans.
Earlier, the AL held a rally near the party's central office -on Bangabandhu Avenue and Abdul Mannan, acting president of the party, announced a three-day country-wide agitation including a hartal on Sat-
urday According to the programme. the party will stage demonstrations across the country today, a torch proces Sion tn the Dhaka City tomor row and enforce a half-day har tai the day after.
Meanwhile, the JP activists assembled near the Shapla Square tn Motijheel at around 10:30 am. They tried to pro ceed towards the Secretariat In a procession which was dispersed by police before reaching the Dalnik Bangla crossing.
Chased by riot police, the JP activists resorted the brickbatting and damaged some vehicles in the Motijheel areas. Thrfe privately owned cars and a motorcycle were burnt down by the JP men In the area at about 11:30 am A group of JP men assembled near the Jiban Bima ToWer and damaged two cars.
Another group was demonstrating near the Freedom Fighters' Welfare Trust building at the time and a small
procession, coming out of the Trust building, attacked the JP agitators and confined a JP ac tlvlst Nadeem Inside the Trust building.
The JP activists attacked the building and damaged a few cars In the vicinity while police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the agitators.
Nadeem was later released by his captors and police sent him to the hospital.
Pitched battles between the JP activists and the riot police continued at Motijheel for over an hour, disrupting the normal activities of the busy commercial area.
No front-ranking JP leader was seen with their activists tn the Motijheel area. However, tlje JP leaders later announced a follow-up programme Identical to that of the AL. in the evening.
The JP will observe an additional half-day hartal at the former Upazila headquarters on November 23.