Muktijuddher Bijoy Mela opens in Ctg peacefully

The lighting of the victory flame marked the inauguration of a seven-day victory fair that starts on the Laldighi Maidan premises on December 10.

Elderly freedom fighter Mohiuddin lit the 'Bijoy Shikha' on the road island at the Circuit House intersection at 3.30pm.

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Mayor and General Secretary of Chittagong city Awami League ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, also the chairman of Bijoy Mela Parishad, the organiser of the fair, and leaders of AL and left-leaning organisations were also present.

A tense was brewing over lighting of the victory flame at Circuit House intersection, only a few yards off the venue where a 21-day Victory Festival was inaugurated on December 5.

Earlier, the mayor threatened to enforce a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Chittagong if the pro-BNP organisers of the Victory Festival protested the lighting of the victory flame.

To avert any untoward situation, additional forces of police were deployed in and around the rally venue, restricting traffic movement along SS Khaled Road from Ispahani crossing to Kazir Dewry crossing.

After the inauguration, a rally was also held at the foot of the flame with Mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury in the chair.

Mela Parishad Secretary General Abul Hashem, AL presidium member Ataur Rahman Khan Kaiser, President of Chittagong city AL M A Mannan, veteran revolutionary Binod Bihary Chowdhury, AL leaders Moslemuddin Ahmed and M A Salam, Jasad leader Indu Nandan Datta and CPB leader Shah Alam also spoke at the rally.

They said the organisers of the Victory Festival on the Chittagong Outer Stadium premises has snatched the venue where the Mela Parishad has been organising the victory fair for the last 15 years.

They alleged that the pro-BNP organisers of the Victory Festival were harbouring the killers of freedom fighters and their collaborators, and trying to distort the history of the War of Liberation.

The leaders called for a united resistance against the bid to destroy the spirit of the liberation war.

Later, several hundred people paraded different streets in a procession led by the mayor.