Bloody clash between BNP and Jamaat leaves several injured ahead of February 12 general election

Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and activists clashed. General elections are to be held in Bangladesh on February 12.

With the general elections in Bangladesh approaching, electoral fervour has intensified. With the Awami League banned from contesting, the main contest is between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat has formed an alliance with the student party National Citizen Party. Meanwhile, the return of Tariq Rahman, son of BNP leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has boosted the party's prospects in the upcoming elections.

Bloody clash between BNP and Jamaat

Amidst the electoral fervour, news has emerged of clashes between leaders and workers of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. Several people were injured in the violent confrontation. According to a report in The Daily Star, a leading Bangladeshi newspaper, the clash began around 4:00 PM on Tuesday when a group of Jamaat workers were campaigning near Mubarak Mosque.

No campaigning allowed before January 22

According to reports, Jamaat workers encountered BNP members while attempting to enter a 10-storey building named "Heaven Tower" in the capital. Abdul Aleem, a security guard at the building, told the media that BNP members stopped the Jamaat workers. The BNP claimed that campaigning was not permitted before January 22. This led to an altercation between the leaders and workers of both parties, which then escalated into a violent clash.

Notice board ignored

Idris Ali, former general secretary of the building's flat owners' association, claimed that Jamaat workers had visited residents to solicit votes. He added that they had campaigned in the area and the building multiple times before. "We had even put up a notice board at the entrance stating 'Political discussions and campaigning are prohibited here', but they ignored it," he said.

Tensions reportedly escalated outside the mosque

Several local BNP leaders accused Jamaat workers of demanding mobile numbers and National Identity Cards of residents during their campaign. A heated argument ensued between the two groups, but the situation eventually calmed down, and both sides dispersed. However, tensions reportedly flared up again outside the mosque, with local BNP leaders claiming that Jamaat workers had cornered some of their members and accused them of "confining" Jamaat workers inside the building.

Gatherings and scuffles in the streets

Shariful Islam Milan, former general secretary of Jubo Dal, the youth wing of BNP from Kafrul Police Station, said, "Jamaat came with 100-150 people in front of the mosque and chased our people. After that, more than 1500 people gathered there." Local residents told the media that BNP workers gathered in the streets around the mosque, chanted anti-Jamaat slogans, and a scuffle broke out.