Extremist Group Objects to Concert at Freshers’ Reception at Brahmanbaria Government College

❐ District Representative

The Qawmi Chhatra Oikya Parishad, Brahmanbaria, has submitted a memorandum to Brahmanbaria Sadar constituency MP Engineer Khaled Mahbub Shyamal and District Council Administrator Alhaj Sirajul Islam, demanding the postponement of the concert to be organized for the upcoming freshman program of Brahmanbaria Government College. The leaders of the organization went to the two offices separately to make this demand.

The context of this claim is an incident on the night of August 18. On that night, on the occasion of the district police’s anti-drug rally and procession, the district police organized a cultural program at the Police Lines ground in the presence of Chittagong Range DIG Abdul Quddus Chowdhury.

Students of Darul Arkam Islamia Madrasa, founded by Sajidur Rahman, the secretary general of the extremist organization Hefazat-e-Islam, located next to the Police Lines, went to disrupt the event. At one point, more than a hundred students entered the Police Lines and vandalized the chairs at the event venue. When the police lathi-charged, the students hurled bricks and stones. At least 30 people from both sides, including seven policemen, were injured in the clash.

After the incident, madrasa students protested throughout the night and took up positions on various streets of the city. That night, District Council Administrator Sirajul Islam held a meeting with the police and madrasa authorities to bring the situation under control.

Sajidur Rahman, secretary general of the extremist organization Hefazat-e-Islam, told the media at the time that the students’ demands were to stop concerts in the area, dismiss the guilty police members, and provide better treatment for the injured, and he noted that the police superintendent had assured them of accepting these demands.

In continuation of this, the Qawmi Chhatra Oikya Parishad has raised fresh objections to the organization of concerts at government colleges’ freshmen ceremonies, and the organization has officially submitted a memorandum to the local parliamentarian and the district administration in this regard.

No official response has yet been received from the college authorities or administration on the matter.