Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarkar has said Hindus will stay in Bangladesh, while leaders and activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir have to quit the country for Pakistan.
He was addressing a street rally at Ramna in Tangail on the way to Thakurgaon in an anti-communal-violence road march on Friday.
Imran said: “Jamaat and Shibir acted against Bangladesh in 1971 and they’re still doing that. Pakistan is still harbouring them. They’re unleashing communal violence with their (Pakistan) support.”
He said Jamaat and Shibir loyalists needed to prepare to leave Bangladesh for their ‘place of shelter’.
“Our message to the oppressed people is that Bangladeshis are with you, and not with Jamaat and Shibir.”
Reiterating the Mancha demand for execution of all war criminals and a ban on Jamaat, Imran said they won’t go back home until their demands were met.
At another street rally at Elenga in Tangail, he said the Jamaat was out to divide the people of the country by using religion.
“They tortured the people in 1971 using the religion as a weapon. But they didn’t succeed that time and they will fail this time too.”
He urged all to resist the ‘anti-liberation’ Jamaat and Shibir activists.
The Mancha started the march for Thakurgaon at 9:30am protesting against the post-poll violence on Hindus in various parts of Bangladesh.
Earlier, it held a similar anti-communal-violence road march to Abhoynagar’s Maloparha in Jessore on Jan 11 and 12.
Before the march to Thakurgaon, Imran had told reporters: “We’ve undertaken this road march for our three demands.”
The demands are enactment of a separate law against communal violence, the setting up of a tribunal for speedy trial of those behind such violence and compensation for the victims, he said.
On its way to Thakurgaon, the Mancha held several rallies at Sirajganj, Pabna and Sherpur. Its first day’s programme will end with the holding of a rally at Satmatha in Bogra.
The Mancha activists will stay the night there. They will hold a rally at Thakurgaon Central Shaheed Minar on Sunday noon before starting for Dhaka.
Ganajagaran Mancha was formed in Shahbagh following a youth-led mass uprising in Feb 2013.
Source: Bd news24