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Nation mourns Bangabandhu

9 injured in Barisal in BNP attacks

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
The pavement in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban on Dhanmondi Road No. 32 (old) was overlaid with wreaths and bouquets yesterday as hundreds of mourners wearing black badges and carrying black flags gathered there to show respect to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder father of the nation.
Soon after the six-hour hartal enforced by main opposition Awami League (AL) had ended at noon, people from all walks of life, including AL leaders and workers, thronged in front of the historical house to pay homage to the slain leader on his 29th death anniversary.
At 12:31pm, Sheikh Hasina, AL president and the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu, placed wreaths and stood in solemn silence for a while in front of her father's portrait, while thousands of people waited in long queues to follow her suit.
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Senior leaders of the AL and its front organisations, and different political and socio-cultural organisations placed their tokens of respect next. Among them were Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leaders Hasanul Haq Inu and Syed Zafar Sazzad.
The waiting mourners then proceeded slowly and offered the flowers they brought with them in memory of their beloved leader. They carried black banners demanding immediate execution of Bangabandhu's killers. Banners with mourning messages were also on display.
From Dhanmondi, Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina went to Banani Graveyard and offered fateha and placed wreaths at the graves of her kin killed on the night of August 15.
On this day in 1975, Banga-bandhu and all his family members except two daughters -- Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana -- were ruthlessly assassinated by a splinter group of the armed forces.
National and party flags were flown at half-mast, besides hoisting black flags, at all offices of the AL and its front organisations across the country to observe the day.
The AL organised a photo exhibition on Bangabandhu in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban and Awami Sechchasebak League held a blood donation programme as part of its programme in observance of the day.
AL workers organised milad mahfils and fed the destitute in various areas of the city and elsewhere of the country. The historic March-7 speech of Bangabandhu and songs on him were played at different places.
Hasina and central AL leaders will attend a mourning programme today at Tungipara, the village home of Bangabandhu.
GOPALGANJ
Our Gopalganj correspondent adds: The 29th death anniversary of Bangabandhu was observed at his birthplace through a number of programmes including placing wreaths at his grave, offering fateha and distribution of food among the destitute.
Senior AL leaders including Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Obaidul Kader, Mukul Bose, Faruk Khan and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah placed wreaths at the grave on behalf of the AL central committee.
HARTAL PEACEFUL
The six-hour hartal from 6:00am yesterday passed off more or less peacefully except in Barisal where ruling coalition activists obstructed, attacked and foiled some programmes organised by the AL and its front organisations to mark the day and injured at least nine AL leaders and workers.
The AL enforced the hartal to press home its demand for immediate execution of the verdict in Bangabandhu murder case and to protest the scrapping of the official status of August 15 as the national mourning day.
During the hartal hours, opposition leaders and workers brought out mourning processions on Bangabandhu Avenue and Russell Square at Dhanmondi in the capital.
The demonstrators chanted slogans demanding execution of the Bangabandhu murder case verdict, which awarded 12 people with death sentences. The case is now pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
A procession of AL lawmakers led by Opposition Chief Whip Abdus Shahid started from the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban and ended at Russell Square after parading through Mirpur Road. The lawmakers held a rally at the square in support of the shutdown.
ATTACKS IN BARISAL
Our Barisal correspondent reports: The national mourning day witnessed sporadic violence in different areas of the district in which at least nine leaders and workers of the AL and its front organisations were injured.
BNP activists attacked and foiled destitute feeding programmes and meetings organised by the AL and its front organisations in Hizla, Sadar, Moulavir Hut and Harinathpur upazilas.
In Hizla, a group of BNP cadres led by Ali Ahmed Howlader alias Ali Qari, Dewan Munir and Mahtab attacked and ransacked the food gathered for destitute feeding.
The assailants beat up upazila AL President Dalilur Rahman Sikder, AL leaders Amir Hossain Talukder and Yusuf Ali Khan, and AL workers Shamsul Rana alias Kismat and Didar. Among them Kismat was critically wounded and sent to Dhaka for better treatment.
The BNP men also tried to abduct some of the AL leaders and workers but failed in face of resistance from the locals.
From early morning, four-party coalition activists organised patrol teams and erected barricades and check-posts at different points of Hizla and Muladi upazilas to prevent mass participation in the mourning day's programmes including destitute feeding and milad mahfils.
In Barisal City, BNP cadres at 12:30pm attacked and foiled a milad mahfil called by Awami Jubo League at Hatem Ali College Mosque. The attackers chased the people assembled for the mahfil and despoiled the props.
BNP men also roughed up four Jubo League activists, including Shukkur, Mishu and Sumon, in front of the college at around 1:30pm.
The hartal could not be observed in the district except in Uzirpur upazila. CHITTAGONG
Our Chittagong office reports: The six-hour hartal passed off, by and large, peacefully in the port city yesterday.
Police barred AL leaders and activists from taking out two separate processions at Olonkar Cinema Hall Crossing and Bohaddarhat Intersection during the hartal hours.
Road traffic was thin with rickshaws dominating the thoroughfares. Activities at the Chittagong Port as well as shopping malls, banks and commercial hubs were disrupted. Classes at all educational institutions were suspended in Chittagong and the adjoining areas.