A press conference by State Minister Ishraque Hossain descended into chaos at the National Press Club on Monday as his party activists and supporters occupied the venue, chanted slogans and ignored his requests to leave.
The disruption at the Abdus Salam Auditorium prevented the press conference from starting as scheduled at 2pm and forced several journalists and camera operators to abandon their work, with many leaving the venue.
According to on-the-spot observations, activists and supporters began gathering inside the auditorium shortly after 1pm, occupying the hall and chanting slogans ahead of the scheduled briefing.
Ishraque arrived at around 1.50 pm and asked his supporters to leave the hall. However, they ignored his request and continued chanting slogans.
The disorder made it difficult for journalists to carry out their professional duties and disrupted preparations for the press conference.
As the situation continued, many journalists and camera operators stopped working, while others were forced to leave because of the supporters’ unruly behaviour.
