Ganajagaran’s hartal in progress
UNB
Dhaka: An eight-hour countrywide hartal enforced by Ganajagaran Mancha, protesting the killing of Faisal Arefin Dipan, a publisher of slain writer and blogger Avijit Roy’s books, and the attacks on another publisher and bloggers, is going on smoothly so far on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations will begin at 2pm instead of 10 am due to the shutdown.
The English 1st paper examinations of JSC examinees and the Bangla 1st paper examination of JDC examinees will begin at 2pm instead of 10am on Tuesday, said an Education Ministry press release.
The Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations-2015 began across the country on Sunday with participation of 2,325,933 students.
Ganajagaran Manch spokesperson Imran H Sarkar announced the shutdown from a rally at Shahbagh intersection on Sunday afternoon demanding arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers and attackers.
No untoward incident was reported till filing this report at 9:00am. Vehicular movement was almost normal in the city.
Imran H Sarkar said they will announce tougher programmes if the government fails to arrest the culprits within 24 hours.
The platform observed a mourning day on Monday across the country.
They also brought out a torch procession from Shahbagh on Monday evening in support of today’s hartal.
Ganajagaran activists held a rally at Shahbagh intersection around 3:30pm on Sunday protesting the brutal attacks on the publishers and bloggers where intellectuals, teachers and students were present.
Earlier, Faisal Arefin Dipan, publisher of Jagriti Prokashony, a publication house and also son of former professor of Dhaka University’s Bangla department Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq, was stabbed to death by miscreants on the 2nd floor of Aziz Super Market in the city’s Shahbagh area some time after 2:00 pm on Saturday.
Assistant commissioner (Ramna Zone) of police Shibly Noman said Dipan was found lying in a pool of blood in his publication house in the evening.
He was first taken to Square Hospital and then shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where doctors declared him dead around 7:15 pm.
Earlier in the day, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, publisher of ‘Shuddhoswar Prokashoni’ and two writers—Sudeep Kumar Roy Barman alias Ranadeep Basu and Tareque Rahim—were stabbed by some unidentified miscreants in the city’s Lalmatia area.
They are now undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.