Leaders and activists of the Jatiya Party and the Gono Odhikar Parishad clashed in front of the Jatiya Party's central office in Dhaka's Kakrail area on Friday evening, leaving several of GOP leaders injured, including Nur, who was severely beaten by Army and other law enforcement personnel.
Gono Odhikar Parishad General Secretary Rashed Khan told Daily Star that they were attacked in two phases, first by the Jatya Party men, then by the law enforcers.
Nur—president of the GOP and former DUCSU VP—was injured and is now undergoing treatment at Islami Bank Central Hospital, Rashed said.
While it's still unclear exactly what transpired between JP and GOP in the presence of law enforcement agencies, videos on social media showed law enforcers and security forces swooping on Nur and his supporters near the JP office.
A video posted on Nur's official Facebook page shows him, bloodied and injured, being rushed to a hospital on a stretcher.
Police and army also stormed the GOP office, Rashed said to the press.
Condemning the attack Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said in a post from his verified Facebook account, "I condemn and protest the barbaric attack on VP Nurul Haque Nur."
Nazrul's comments were met with massive backlash, with comments flooding his post condemning his position as "hypocritical", as he himself is in the government.
NCP leader, Hasnat Abdullah, said in a comment on that post, "Is your job protesting? Give up your hypocrisy sir. You'll have to answer for why you're doing everything other than what you were appointed to do. We know exactly who are creating obstacles, where and how. So just do your job and stop pretending to protest."
Meanwhile Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolon Bangladesh and Bangladesh Khilafat Majlish have released statements condemning the attacks on Nururl Haque Nur and his party members.
The spokesperson of Islami Andolon Bangladesh said, "We would like to believe this was the consequence of an error in judgment made in the spur of the moment by the army and police personnel present in the field. But they must be held accountable for why they assaulted a key leader of the anti-fascist movement, and it must be investigated who backed or instigated this incident so that they are brought to justice."
"We expect swift and effective action from the top officials of the government on this matter. Otherwise, the anti-fascist forces will see who dares to stand in support of fascism."
In a joint statement, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Ameer Maulana Mamunul Haque and Secretary General Maulana Jalaluddin Ahmed said, "The cowardly attack on VP Nur is a vile attempt to silence the voices of the country's pro-independence and pro-Bangladesh people. Particularly alarming is the direct involvement of law enforcement in such an assault on the head of a political party…"
"If immediate administrative action is not taken against the responsible law enforcement personnel, public outrage will escalate and people will be forced to take to the streets. We firmly demand that the Jatiya Party terrorists, the police officers involved, and the uniformed members of the law enforcement agencies be held accountable and given exemplary punishment. At the same time, Awami League's accomplices must be permanently banned from politics," the statement added.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's Secretary General and former MP, Mia Golam Parwar, expressed concern and condemned the incident, saying more than 50 leaders and activists of GOP including Nur were "seriously injured in a heinous attack by terrorists from the Jatiya Party, an ally of Awami Fascism"
"As the nation moves towards building a new Bangladesh, such attacks are reminiscent of fascism," it added.
Jamaat has called for the immediate arrest of the attackers, although they did not mention any military or law enforcement involvement in the incident.
Later Bangladesh Army released a statement in the middle of the night (30 August) saying Army joined Police in "bringing the situation under control" when the later was unable to do so and sought the army's assistance.
The statement claims that several policemen were attacked and injured.
It says, despite repeated pleas to remain calm, "certain party activists ignored the calls and tried to incite unrest through mob violence."
"They launched an organised attack on law enforcement personnel and, around 9:00pm, escalated violence further through a torch procession. During this time, they hurled bricks and attempted to set fire to various establishments as well…As a result, law enforcement agencies had no choice but to use force to ensure public safety."
Five army personnel were injured in Friday's incident, the statement said.
"People's Republic of Bangladesh Government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of mob violence.", the statement said, adding that the military is always ready to take a tough stance against mob violence to restore public confidence, safety, and security.
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