News No.175/2015:
Sunday, November 29, 2015
AT LEAST 14 people were
injured and three others, including Hill Women’s Federation president Nirupa
Chakma, were arrested in Khagrachari today when members of the Bangladesh Army
and police cracked down on the participants of a rally organised by an alliance
of eight Jumma organizations in observance of the International Day of
Solidarity with Palestine People declared by the United Nation.
The alliance of eight
Jumma organizations [Hill Students Council, Hill Women’s Federation, Democratic
Youth Forum, CHT Women’s Association, Sajek Nari Samaj (Women Association of
Sajek), Ghilachari Nari Nirjaton Protiroth Committee (Committee for Resistance
Against Repression on Women), Sajek Land Protection Committee and Protiroth
Culturel Squad] was scheduled to hold their previously-announced rally at
Chengi Square in the town.
According to
eyewitnesses’ accounts, the army and police attacked the participants at
Modhupur and Khezur Bagan with clubs and bayonets, leaving fourteen of them
injured.
At Modhupur, the army
soldiers attacked the participants without slightest provocation when they
gathered there at 10 am to march to the venue of the rally at Chengi Square.
The soldiers clubbed
them and hit with bayonets, an eyewitness told chtnews.com.
At least eight participants
including three women were injured in the attack, he added.
Of the injured, two
sustained injuries to their heads.
The second attack took
place at 10:30 am when a procession of the participants reached Khezur Bagan
(near Upazila office) on its way to Chengi Square.
The army and police
indiscriminately used batons to disperse the participants, who had been
peaceful and non violent throughout the attack.
At least six people
including 4 women were injured in the unprovoked attack, eyewitnesses and
organizers said.
The army and police also
arrested Hill Women’s Federation president Nirupa Chakma and its member Dwitia
Chakma during the crackdown at Khezur Bagan.
Another person named
Dwibigga Dewan, a candidate of the just concluded JSC examination, was also
arrested from Swanirbhor bazaar in the northern part of the town, from where
the procession took off before coming under attack.
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