Constituency demarcation: Bagerhat election office besieged, writs filed in High Court
Committee leaders said the siege would continue until demands were met
Leaders and activists of the All-Party Joint Committee have besieged the Bagerhat District Election Office, demanding the reinstatement of the district's four constituencies.
Writ petitions have also been filed with the High Court challenging the Election Commission's decision.
This (16 September) morning, activists marched from different areas and blocked the main gate of the election office.
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Election officials and staff were not seen entering the premises. Committee leaders said the siege would continue until their demands were met.
Two writ petitions have been lodged with the Supreme Court, one by Barrister Sheikh Mohammad Jakir Hossain on behalf of the Bagerhat Press Club and District Bar Association, and another by lawyer Mohammad Akhtar Rasul on behalf of Mujibur Rahman Shami, former chairman of Chitalmari Upazila Parishad and an Islami Andolan Bangladesh candidate.
The petitions named the government, the chief election commissioner, the Election Commission secretary and the attorney general as defendants.
Committee leaders said their planned hartal had been withdrawn out of respect for Durga Puja festivities, but the siege would continue.
MA Salam, co-convener of the committee and former district BNP president, said, "We have withdrawn the hartal programme considering the festival and the interests of the businessmen. We have besieged the election office, and this will continue on Wednesday (17 September) from 9am to 1pm."
Sheikh Mohammad Yunus, district secretary of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and member secretary of the committee, said, "Two writs have already been filed. Preparations for more writs are underway. We hope that we will get justice in the court."
Unrest has been ongoing in Bagerhat since the Election Commission decided to cut the district's four constituencies to three ahead of the 13th parliamentary election.
The district, long represented by four seats, was reduced following a gazette issued on 4 September after the Commission's final decision.
The new arrangement merged the constituencies into three: Bagerhat-1 (Bagerhat Sadar, Chitalmari and Mollahat), Bagerhat-2 (Fakirhat, Rampal and Mongla), and Bagerhat-3 (Kachua, Morelganj and Sharankhola).
Committee leaders said the decision ignored the demands of the people and vowed to continue both legal and street protests until the four constituencies were restored.
