Protest staged in capital

Protesters under the banner of 'Bikkhubda Jumma Chhatra-Janata' have staged a rally at Shahbagh intersection in the capital, condemning the 'attacks' on ethnic minorities in Khagrachhari's Dighinala upazila, reports bdnews24.com.

Over 100 protesters blocked the road around noon on Friday.

The protesters gathered first in front of the Raju Sculpture around 10:30 am. They then marched from there to the Shahbagh intersection, where they stayed for around 25 minutes.

During a brief speech, a protester named Insta Chakma said: "Our brothers were attacked in Khagrachhari. We do not want to see bloodshed in the hills. We condemn this incident. No Adivasi homes should be torched."

During the rally, the speakers said the hill areas had been turned into an internal colony by Bangladesh while the hill tribes - once a majority population in the area - have been turned into a minority through 'demographic engineering'.

The protesters presented a list of demands, including ensuring the safety of the Jumma people in the three hill districts who were victims of communal violence in Dighinala.

They called for the identification and punishment of the attackers in Khagrachhari and Dighinala, under the supervision and participation of the UN.

The demands also included appropriate compensation for the families of those killed, proper treatment for the injured, and the rebuilding of the Buddhist monastery belonging to the Jumma community.

Locals say that students from Dighinala Degree College launched a protest march on Thursday afternoon after a man called Mamun was killed in a 'mass beating' over suspicions of theft on Wednesday morning.

A clash erupted at one point during the protest march. Then, one side set fire to stores in Larma Square. The victims of the fire say that 60 to 70 stores were burnt down by the blaze.

There were sounds of gunfire throughout the night and three people were reported dead in Dighinala and the Sadar Upazila in the morning. Several others have been injured in the clashes, police say.