Keep calm, refrain from violence

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus yesterday condemned the murder of a lawyer in the port city of Chattogram.

He has ordered an investigation into the killing and appropriate legal course, read a Facebook post of his Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam.

The CA has urged people to keep calm and refrain from engaging in any untoward activities, it said.

He has also ordered law enforcement agencies to step up security in the port city, including in all the vulnerable neighbourhoods.

The interim government is committed to ensuring and upholding communal harmony in Bangladesh at any cost, it added.

Earlier in the day, Saiful Islam Alif, a 32-year-old lawyer was killed during a clash between police and followers of former ISKCON leader Chandan Kumar Dhar, alias Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, in the Chattogram Court Building area.

On his verified Facebook page, Information Adviser Nahid Islam said that the killers of Saiful would face strict punishment.

”Since the beginning, the interim government has sincerely considered the demands of the minority communities. However, Chinmoy Krishna Das has been trying to create communal divisions by delivering false and provocative speeches at various meetings and rallies.”

“Despite being charged with sedition, Chinmoy Krishna continued to hold meetings without taking any legal action. The primary goal of such activities was to attract global media attention and portray Bangladesh and the July uprising in a negative way. Indian media has consistently engaged in such false propaganda.”

Terming the killing of a lawyer at Chattogram court premises as unprecedented, Nahid said Chinmoy was planning to disrupt harmony in the country and had created a group of criminal supporters.

“The fascist Awami League has always sought to engage in communal politics by exploiting minority communities. Now, Indian media is also spreading false propaganda…”

Nahid said the Hindu community are citizens of Bangladesh, and the government would ensure their security.

“However, the Bangladesh government will ensure the maximum legal punishment for the subversive Hindu terrorists.”

Nahid urged the people of the country to remain patient and calm, saying that the criminals would soon be arrested.

DON’T BE FOOLED BY CONSPIRATORS: HASNAT

Hasnat Abdullah, convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, urged people across the country to remain calm.

“Please stay patient and calm. Do not take the law into your own hands or create any kind of unstable environment,” Hasnat said this in his verified Facebook post yesterday.

“Our Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony. We will not allow anyone to disrupt this harmony under any circumstances.

“Since August 5, a certain group has been deliberately conspiring to create chaos in our country. Please do not get involved in internal conflicts and inadvertently pave the way for these conspirators to realise their heinous plans.”

In his Facebook post, Hasnat Abdullah demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of Saiful’s killers.

In a separate Facebook post yesterday, Hasnat called upon all stakeholders of the July uprising to remain vigilant and form “Night Watch Teams” in their localities.

“We seek the cooperation of the general public to ensure that no one can exploit the country’s instability to carry out destructive attacks on our minority brothers and sisters.”

Hasnat said, ”We will always remain vocal in safeguarding the July uprising, protecting the sovereignty of our country, and ensuring the safety of the general populace.”

Meanwhile, in a separate Facebook post, Sarjis Alam, general secretary of July Shaheed Smrity Foundation, said if any individual, terrorist group, or organisation attempts to incite communal riots using religion as a “tool”, strict measures must be taken against them.

He said, “Whoever is involved, we demand the highest punishment for murder. No leniency for conspirators. Too much leniency will embolden them.”

Sarjis also emphasised that extremism should be judged not by religion but by the act of extremism itself.

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has announced a mourning and solidarity rally for Advocate Saiful at the Central Shaheed Minar at 2:00pm today.