Protesters torch, besiege Jatiyo Party HQ; Army, police on the spot

A group of student-public under the banner of "Anti-Fascism Student, Worker and Public" besieged the Jatiyo Party headquarters in the capital's Bijoynagar today (31 October), following a clash with the party's men. 

Members of the Bangladesh Army and police were stationed at the site to control the situation, as per reports from our correspondent from the spot till the filing of this report at 10:30pm.

"The student-public set fire to the party's office. Police reached the spot and managed to bring the fire under control," said Sohel Rana, additional deputy commissioner of Ramna Zone, Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

"No casualties were reported. The situation is now normal," he added.

The development comes amid recent tension between the leaders of the JP and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in recent days after Sarjis Alam, a coordinator of the movement, said the Jatiya Party is an "ally of the fascists" and they will "crush them" on the streets.

Earlier in the evening, the protesters vandalised and set fire to the JP office. They also painted several graffiti on the walls of the building. 

The situation escalated after the protesters brought out a procession from the Dhaka University campus towards the JP HQ. 

At around 6pm, the student-public group brought out the torch procession to protest against the "political inaction and anti-national plot of the fallen fascist Awami League and their friend Jatiya Party" from the Anti-Terrorism Raju Memorial Sculpture at Dhaka University.

The protester said the JP has no right to do politics as they are supporters of the AL.

There, they chanted various slogans slamming the JP, which was the main opposition party during the last two terms of the Awami League-led government. They termed the party as "cohort of the AL and India" as they participated in the last three elections under the AL.

At one point, supporters of JP came out of the office and a clash ensued between the two groups. Later, the protesters set fire and vandalised the JP office.

"Jatiya Party leaders and activists first threw bricks at us like rain for about 10 minutes. Then we chased them and they ran away. The Jatiya Party office is now in our possession," Anwar Hossain, one of the protesters, told The Business Standard.

"Jatiya Party, like the Awami League, is a cohort of India. They openly announced a rally on 2 November with instigation from India. We will fight these cohort organisations even with our lives," said Ismail Hossain, another protester.

Shortly after the clash, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement coordinators Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjil Alam announced they would bring out a procession towards the Jatiyo Party headquarters to oust the party.

"The national traitors Jatiya Party has beaten our brothers in Bijoynagar with weapons, and is rallying with weapons. This time, the overthrow of these traitors is certain," Hasnat posted in his Facebook profile.

In another post, he said, "We will move to Bijoynagar with a procession at 8:30pm from Raju Bhaskarjya. National traitors must be wiped out."

Sarjis also made a similar post from his Facebook profile around the same time.

Earlier this month, Jatiya Party had declared Sarjis and Hasnat as persona non-grata in Rangpur just ahead of a planned visit to the district by the two coordinators. Later, Sarjis visited the districts as planned but Hasnat did not.

"We will show how the entire student movement, including the two student advisers of the interim government, can shake the ground in Rangpur and crush the efforts of those allies trying to take the fight on the streets," Sarjis said on 26 October, during the visit to Rangpur – the main stronghold of Jatiya Party.

Sarjis also condemned the Jatiya Party for legitimising the Awami League government during the national elections in 2014, 2018, and 2024.