Protests erupt across Bangladesh after arrest of religiopolitical party chief

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – A nationwide protest erupted in Bangladesh following the arrest of a major religiopolitical party leader in the capital Dhaka early Tuesday.

“Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer (chief) Dr. Shafiqur Rahman was arrested from his residence at around 1 am on 13th December. We are vehemently condemning and protesting his arrest,” the party’s Secretary General Maulana ATM Masum said in a statement.

Md Asaduzzaman, a senior police official, confirmed Rahman's arrest to Anadolu Agency but declined to provide details, saying they would later inform the media.

Rahman's arrest comes just two days after he announced an anti-government mass rally in Dhaka on Dec. 24.

"Bangladesh is in a terrible situation now. The country is constantly rushing towards new crises. There is a disastrous situation in the country's politics, economy, education-culture, and social arena,” he said in a statement, announcing the launch of a nationwide movement to press the government to accept 10 demands, including the revival of "true democracy" and the restoration of people's rights.

The party in Tuesday’s statement warned that arresting its leaders would not deter them from participating in the anti-government protest.

“I am urging the concerned authorities to release all detained leaders and activists including Jamaat Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman immediately and unconditionally,” Masum said.

The Jamaat-e-Islami later held a protest rally in Dhaka, where its party leader warned the government not to harass its party leaders by implicating them in fabricated cases.

They also pledged not to back out of the Dec. 24 anti-government rally in the capital.

The political situation in the country has deteriorated since the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) launched nationwide rallies early last month to press the government to accept its demand for the reinstatement of a non-political caretaker government system for holding next year's general elections and the release of Begum Khaleda Zia, the 76-year-old party head and two-time prime minister who has been imprisoned for 17 years since being convicted in 2018 in two counts of corruption.

Prior to the party's mass public rally at Golapbag ground in Dhaka last Saturday, law enforcement arrested over 500 BNP leaders and activists on charges of attacking police, in which one party worker was killed and over a dozen were injured, near the party's central office in Naya Paltan neighborhood early last week.

While five BNP lawmakers resigned from parliament on Sunday, the remaining two party MPs' resignations have yet to be accepted by the speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, or National Parliament House.