Dhaka: Jatiya Party Office Set Ablaze Amid Protests Against Sheikh Hasina

Dhaka [Bangladesh]: Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's coalition, Jatiya Party, central office in Dhaka, has been set on fire after clashes on Thursday night. The office was partly damaged, the witnesses said.

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 despite the major party BNP boycotting.

Protesters against Sheikh Hasina were angered when the Jatiya Party announced that it would hold 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 the Kakrail area, the heart of the capital Dhaka.

The fire service went to the spot and extinguished the fire. When a large number of protesters went in front of the Jatiya Party office, protesters vandalized the Jatiya Party offices, pulled down signboards, and smeared ink on party founder Ershad's picture on the wall, the witnesses said.

Police and army were deployed in front of the Jatiya Party office.

"We were passing in front of the Jatiya Party office with a torch procession. At that time, terrorists of the Jatiya Party threw bricks at our procession from the roof of the Jatiya Party office," said Shakiluzzaman, a leader of Gono Audhikar Parishad, a political party that actively participated in the movement against Sheikh Hasina.

"Jatiya Party terrorists themselves set fire to their office and escaped. The Jatiya Party acted as a proxy of the fascist Awami League in the 2014, 2018, and 2024 elections," Shakiluzzaman said.

"We, the students, workers, and citizens, have declared that we will not allow the Jatiya Party to hold any rally," he further said.

No comment was immediately found from the Jatiya Party, but they are likely to express their reaction officially later on Friday.

Two months ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600. Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5, and an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed.

(ANI)