Gazipur city mayor hurt: BNP stage nat\\\'nwide demo amid clashes

The BNP on Sunday staged nationwide demonstration in protest against denial of permission by the authorities to it for holding the prescheduled rally in Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday. Sporadic clashes between BNP supporters and police in Dhaka and Gazipur city and other cities and towns marked the demonstrations by the party. In Gazipur, at least 50 people, including city corporation mayor M A Manna, were injured in a series of clashes between BNP activists and police in front of BNP office in the city on Sunday. Witnesses said the clash erupted as police obstructed a procession brought out by BNP, led by the Gazipur City Corporation mayor around 12:15pm. Police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control. Over 50 people, including a woman city councilor, received bullet wounds during the clashes. BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the nationwide protest programme at an ‘urgent’ press briefing in Dhaka on Saturday morning. Mirza Alamgir said: ‘We’ll hold protests in Dhaka and district towns across the country on Sunday.’ He said BNP wrote to the Public Works Department (PWD) as well as the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) for its rally to mark ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’. Later, they sent another letter on Oct 29 informing the DMP commissioner that it would like to hold the rally on Nov 8, instead of Nov 7. Mirza Alamgir said, the police became so powerful that they started to ‘speak like politicians.’ Earlier, DMP Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman, when asked if the BNP would get the permission, said the BNP would be provided security if they wanted to hold an indoor programme, according to a news agency.