FROM PAGE 16

on the streets and in various districts across the country.

BNP leaders and activists said they would not allow any political party whose activities are banned to hold programmes, and they took to the streets following central instructions.

Additional security was also in place in different districts and divisional cities outside Dhaka.

Law-enforcement agencies arrested 58 AL leaders and activists during coordinated drives in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Pirojpur and Jhalakathi. The arrests were made in separate raids and checkpoint operations based on surveillance and case records, said police.

Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance, including NCP, held a rally yesterday in Dhaka, coinciding with the founding anniversary of the AL.

At the rally, Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman accused the BNP of shifting its position after coming to power.

The BNP had said before the national election that it would ensure fair trial for all killings, enforced disappearances and torture carried out by fascist forces, but had “changed its tune” after assuming office, he said.

Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party, described the AL as a “fascist, genocidal and terrorist organisation” and said the party had no scope to return to politics in Bangladesh after the July uprising.

Speaking at the weekly press briefing at the Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Information Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman said the AL could return to normal politics only if Bangladeshis forgot the party’s past actions.

Whether the AL, whose activities are now banned, would remain barred as a political party was a matter for the courts to decide.

However, as part of the security measures, law enforcement agencies intensified patrols and took positions at key entry points and other strategic areas.

Talking to reporters in the capital, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said the AL had planned to use its founding anniversary to sabotage the law-and-order situation.

But law-enforcement agencies had foiled the attempts.

Since June 22, Border Guard Bangladesh personnel have been deployed in Cox’s Bazar, Madaripur, Sherpur, Gazipur and Moulvibazar to maintain law and order and deal with possible security risks, according to the BGB media wing. The deployment will continue until June 30.

The government also ordered army deployment in Dhaka, Chattogram and Gazipur metropolitan areas, as well as Narayanganj, Gopalganj and Faridpur districts, citing concerns over possible sabotage by AL leaders and activists. The army will also remain deployed until June 30.

Meanwhile, BNP and its associate bodies held sit-in programmes, rallies and processions in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, Savar, Chattogram, Faridpur, Gazipur, Cox’s Bazar, Narayanganj, Bhola, Sirajganj, Shariatpur, Pabna, Tangail, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Dinajpur.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating an event in Munshiganj, Road Transport Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam said the AL had been rejected by the people and finally banned after acting against public aspirations.

“Banned means banned,” he said.

AL leaders and activists were seen cutting cakes in some districts.

In Gopalganj, some AL leaders and activists briefly gathered in Digharkul village under Raghunathpur union, brought out a procession and cut a cake.

In Jhenaidah, police foiled an anniversary event of the banned AL at Arpara village. Local sources said police tried to detain leaders and activists who had gathered there, but they fled after locals obstructed the law enforcers.

Police were sent to the spot immediately, but the organisers fled after sensing their presence, said Jellal Hossain, the officer-in-charge of Kaliganj police station.

[Our respective district correspondents also contributed to the report]