Police foil Mohila Dal procession

Police foiled Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal's bid to bring out a procession in the city marking the International Women's Day Saturday, reports UNB.

Police said they intervened as the women front of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not take any official permission for the event.

Mohila Dal will hold a black-flag procession Monday across the country to protest police action, its general secretary Shirin Sultana announced at a press conference at BNP's Nayapaltan central office.

Earlier on the day, police waylaid the activists of the BNP's women wing as they tried to bring out the procession from in front of its Nayapaltan central office at around 10:20am.

At one stage, the Mohila Dal activists scuffled with the law enforcers, forcing deployment of addition police force around the BNP office to foil the programme.

Additional Police Commissioner (Motijheel Zone) Asaduzzaman told reporters that they did not allow the Mohila Dal to stage their programme as they had no permission from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

"We can't allow anybody to take out unauthorised procession on security ground."

Shirin, however, said they sought the permission for the peaceful programme nearly a week ago. "But the authorities did not inform us that we have been denied permission."

She alleged that police did not allow women to hold a programme on the International Women's Day as the law enforcers turned into a force of the ruling party.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir who was present at the press conference strongly condemned the police action.

"It's very unfortunate that when the country's prime minister, speaker and opposition leader are all women, Mohila Dal was obstructed from holding their programme on the International Women's Day," Fakhrul deplored.