CHATTOGRAM, Nov 27: The slain lawyer Saiful Islam Alif has been buried at his family graveyard at Lohagara on Wednesday evening.
Three funeral prayers were held on Wednesday.
The first namaz-e-janaza of Saiful Islam was held on the court premises at 10:00am and the second at Jamiatul Falah National Mosque ground at 11:30am and the third at Lohagara in the afternoon.
Thousands of people joined the three namaz-e-janaza of Saiful Islam on the court premises, at Jamiatul Falah National Mosque ground and at Lohagara in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, lawyers in Chattogram went on a two-day strike on Wednesday to protest the killing of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif amid clashes among members of law enforcement agencies, lawyers, and followers of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote.
The court activities remained suspended since morning and the lawyers gathered on the court premises demanding the immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
A protest rally was held where lawyers voiced their outrage and sought justice for their slain colleague.
Land Affairs Adviser AF Hassan Ariff, Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Dr Shahadat Hossain, Jamaat-e-Islami Chattogram Metropolitan Ameer Shahjahan Chowdhury, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Coordinator Hasnat Abdullah, Sarjis Alam, Russell Ahmed, and Talat Mahmud Rafi, among others, joined the protest rally.
Later, leaders from various political parties and student coordinators described Hindu religious organisation ISKCON as a fundamentalist militant group and demanded an immediate ban on ISKCON's activities in Bangladesh.
They warned of continued protests if their demands are not met.
Lawyer Saiful Islam was killed amid clashes among police, lawyers and supporters of former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das on Tuesday after the court rejected the leader's bail in a sedition case.
Witnesses said unidentified people took him to nearby Jangal Cinema Lane on the ground floor of the court, beat him up and then hacked him to death.
The unrest began when thousands of followers of Chinmoy gathered on the court premises and obstructed the prison van carrying him, demanding his immediate release.
Besides, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON, should be banned in Bangladesh immediately to ensure peace and stability in the country, says Sarjis Alam, General Secretary of the July Martyrs Memorial Foundation.
He spoke to the media on Wednesday following the second funeral prayers of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, who was killed when violence erupted at a protest against the jail order for minority Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das.
"We have noted the people who were the most aggrieved when Sheikh Hasina fled the country. We have seen clearly that when Bangladesh was expected to experience severe instability following the revolution, our brothers from the madrasa guarded the temples," said the former coordinator of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.
He said the 'extremists' committed innumerable wrongdoings in the last 16 years and the fascist Awami League did not allow them to be publicised. Rather, they patronised or favoured the crimes done by ISKCON members and concealed the facts, he said. "But we have now seen their character. We saw how they slaughtered people yesterday."
Sarjis said that just as the people of Bangladesh were empathetic to all religions, they would not hesitate to stand against and combat extremists from any group.
"Those who are spreading extremist Hinduism in Bangladesh in the name of ISKCON must be banned to uphold peace and stability in Bangladesh."
Whoever the attackers were, they were just criminals, said Chattogram City Mayor Dr Shahadat Hossain.
"Criminals don't have any religion or political party. We'll treat them as criminals. They'll be brought to justice irrespective of their creed or political affiliations," he said.
"We'll ensure that no murderer or criminal can use religion to stand against the people and commit a crime with a political motive. We want peace in this city. We don't want the general members of the Hindu community and others to be harassed because of those few criminals," the Mayor said.
Anti-discrimination Student Movement Coordinator Hasnat Abdullah, BNP leaders Giasuddin Kader Chowdhury, Abul Hashem Bakkar and Jamaat-e-Islami Chattogram Amir Shahjahan Chowdhury were present at the funeral prayer.
Thousands of people took part in the second funeral prayers of the lawyer held at the Jamiatul Falah ground. A notable number of Jamaat and BNP leaders and activists were present.
Meanwhile, 30 people have been detained in connection with the violence in Chattogram surrounding the jail order of Chinmoy Krishna Das, a spokesman for the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote and former ISKCON leader.
Chattogram Metropolitan Police said six criminals have been identified as the killers of slain lawyer Saiful Islam.
