BNP leaders being arrested defying calls from world bodies
Staff Reporter :
Since the dismantling of BNP’s grand rally on October 28, BNP leaders and workers are facing blanketed arrest almost every day on various charges, including police killing, arson and vandalism of the residence of the Chief Justice.
Earlier, the international bodies, including the United Nations have urged the government and the law enforcers to stop ‘arbitrary arrest’ of the leaders and workers of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ahead of the parliamentary election on political ground.
But the government and the law enforcers have not paid attention to the call of the international organisation, including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Meanwhile, the Law Minister Anisul Huq
on Sunday told journalists at the Secretariat that the BNP leaders have been arrested for their involvement in criminal activities, not on political ground.
“There is nothing to do with the politics.
They (BNP leaders) have been arrested for their involvement in criminal activities,” he said.
So far a dozen BNP top leaders, including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Mirza Abbas, the party’s vice chairman Barrister Shahjahan Omar and Altaf Hossain Chowdhury were arrested after the political violence on October 28 that killed two people, including a policeman.
On the other hand, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday remarked that the government has made the country a ‘big jail’.
In a press release, he mentioned the names of certain BNP leaders, including vice chairman Barrister Shahjahan Omar and Altaf Hossain Chowdhury who were arrested on Saturday night.
Besides, he also mentioned the detention of the party’s Organising Secretary Imran Saleh Prince on Sunday morning.
Criticising Election Commission’s role, he said, “The government’s subservient Election Commission is urging BNP to vie for election. On the other hand, crackdown on BNP leaders and workers is continuing. It is farce.”
He further said, “Crackdown campaigns are being conducted to arrest the leaders and activists of opposition parties, including the BNP. This is being done to ensure that the upcoming elections are conducted in a manner that allows the ruling party to once again seize power.”
The arrest of BNP leaders and activists is not being stopped whereas it has gained momentum in the last one week.
Some eight thousand opposition leaders and activists were arrested from different pockets of the country in the last eight days centring BNP’s grand rally, according to police and different media outlets.
Various political parties said that the intensifying crackdown on the opposition ahead of the general election will destabilise the political landscape and the country may lead to chaotic situation.
Observing the Oct 28 incident, the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commission urges the government of Bangladesh to observe the greatest restraint to curb political tensions at this critical time.
“We urge the Government to observe the greatest restraint to curb political tensions at this critical time, and to take steps to ensure that human rights are fully upheld, for all Bangladeshis, before, during and after the elections,” it said on November 1.
On the following day, the United Nations clearly articulated that it does not want to see any sort of “harassment or arbitrary arrest or violence” ahead of the 12th parliamentary election.
The body further said that it want to see a free and fair election.
Following the Oct 28 incident, the Foreign Ministry called for the diplomats stationed in Dhaka to convey them that the BNP was involved in the violence. But during the event, the envoys did not ask any question and they were mum.
