A Bangladeshi party formerly close to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League on Friday said that their offices were burned down in an arson attack by protesters.
The Jatiya Party, founded by late President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, was a part of the Bangladesh Awami League-led Grand Alliance and participated in the previous three general elections even as other parties boycotted the elections.
According to ANI, the protesters were angry over the Jatiya Party's announcement of a rally in Dhaka on Saturday.
Clashes erupted when protesters carrying the Chhatra Sramik Janata banner marched with a torch procession in front of the Jatiya Party's central office in Kakrail area, the heart of the capital Dhaka, on Thursday.
Protesters vandalised the party offices, pulled down signboards and smeared ink on party founder Ershad's picture on the wall, ANI reported, citing witnesses.
Police and Army were then subsequently deployed in front of the Jatiya Party office.
Protestors vs Jatiya Party
Jatiya Party chief Ghulam Muhammed Quader, who had also served as the former commerce minister under Hasina's leadership, claimed that such protesters were "splitting" the nation.
"The country is now divided", Quader was quoted as saying by AFP in Dhaka. "They disregard everyone else, splitting the country into 'pure' and 'impure' factions... They determine who is culpable and who is not, leaving no room for justification. Once they tag someone as culpable, it's final."
On their part, the protestors claimed that Thursday's incident took place as they were attacked by members of the Jatiya Party during their march.
"We were passing in front of the Jatiya Party office with a torch procession. At that time, terrorists of Jatiya Party threw bricks at our procession from the roof of Jatiya Party office", said Shakiluzzaman, a leader of Gono Audhikar Parishad, a political party that participated in the movement against Sheikh Hasina.
"Jatiya Party terrorists themselves set fire to their office and escaped. Jatya Party acted as a proxy of the fascist Awami League in the 2014, 2018 and 2024 elections", Shakiluzzaman said, according to ANI.
Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi after the dramatic collapse of her government in August.
