Awami League leaders and activists, despite the ban on their activities, conducted a sudden rally in Shariatpur. On Saturday afternoon, they marched in the Premtala area of Shariatpur Municipality on the Dhaka-Shariatpur road. Videos of the rally have been circulated on Facebook.
The video shows Awami League leaders and activists marching with party banners and national flags in the Premtala area on the Dhaka-Shariatpur road. An Awami League worker is seen leading the march with the national flag and chanting various slogans. The rally was led by Selim Sheikh, a member of the 1st Ward of Palanga Union Parishad in Shariatpur Sadar.
During the rally, Selim Sheikh live-streamed the event on his Facebook page. The rally demanded the return of Sheikh Hasina and the withdrawal of the ban on Awami League. Slogans were also chanted in the names of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina, and Iqbal Hossain, the former MP of Shariatpur-1 constituency.
Awami League and its allied organizations have been conducting rallies in various parts of Shariatpur for the past two weeks. On Monday morning, leaders and activists of the Volunteer League marched on the main road of the district town. Earlier, on the occasion of Sheikh Hasina's return to the country, leaders and activists of Awami League and the banned Chhatra League marched in five places in Shariatpur.
Attempts to contact Selim Sheikh, the UP member of Palanga Union's 1st Ward, regarding the rally were unsuccessful as he did not answer calls or respond to messages.
An unnamed leader of Palanga Union Juba League told Prothom Alo, 'We are being harassed with various false cases. We have taken to the streets to protest this. From now on, our programs will continue regularly. We have decided to hold sudden rallies and various programs until the ban on the party is lifted.'
The Officer-in-Charge of Palanga Model Thana, Shah Alam, said, 'We have no information that any banned organization has held a rally in Shariatpur. We are investigating the matter. If such an incident has occurred, legal action will be taken against them.'
