DHAKA: A Bangladeshi political party formerly allied with the ousted regime condemned student-led protesters on Friday, claiming they are “splitting” the nation.
Jatiya Party chief Ghulam Muhammed Quader reported that a mob burned down the party’s offices in an arson attack on Thursday, attributing the violence to angry protesters.
“The country is now divided,” Quader stated in Dhaka. “They disregard everyone else, creating factions of ‘pure’ and ‘impure.’ They decide who is culpable, leaving no room for justification.”
Quader’s Jatiya Party faced criticism for participating in the January elections, which the main opposition boycotted, resulting in Sheikh Hasina securing a fourth consecutive term amid allegations of human rights abuses during her rule, including mass detentions and extrajudicial killings. Hasina fled to India on August 5 after months of protests against her autocratic governance.
Some leaders of the student protests are now part of the interim cabinet led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, while many of Hasina’s loyalists have been detained. Quader remarked, “They can vandalize and set fire to our offices while remaining above the law,” without naming specific individuals.
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Hasnat Abdullah, leader of Students Against Discrimination, which initiated the uprising against Hasina, urged supporters to march on Jatiya Party offices, calling for the “annihilation of national traitors.” However, the group’s spokeswoman, Umama Fatema, clarified that they do not support illegal actions, stating that responsibility lies with individuals who participated in the march.
Senior police officer Talebur Rahman noted that no formal complaints had been filed regarding the arson incident. This unrest followed a visit from UN rights chief Volker Turk, who praised the students for their “courage in standing up for justice” but cautioned against the belief that “the ends justify the means.”
Turk said that the methods used to achieve change are as important as the outcomes, advocating for the strengthening of institutions rather than their destruction.
