Rashed Ahmed Mitul
Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders and activists across the country are in panic and on the run as filing of spooky cases, revival of old cases and arrest by police continue ahead of the 11th parliamentary polls.
Party leaders said that the panic caused many leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies to resort to various tactics to avoid arrest and many of them did not dare to attend party programmes while many were on the run.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on September 21 said that they doubted if there would be any scope for restoring democracy the way the government filing ‘ghostly’ cases against the opposition, particularly BNP, leaders and activists across the country, making the elections ‘uncertain’.
He said that 3,736 cases were filed against over 3.13 lakhs BNP leaders and activists, over 2.33 lakhs unnamed in the cases and 3,690 were arrested in September 1-18.
Several thousand leaders and activists joined the human chain in front of National Press Club on September 10 while only 1,500 joined two-hour token hunger strike on the premises of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in Dhaka on September 12 demanding immediate release of jailed BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia. BNP leaders blamed the fear of arrest for the poor participation in the hunger strike as over 200 leaders and activists were arrested on the way to and from the human chain.In both the programmes, many leaders and activists started to leave the venues halfway through the programmes apparently fearing arrest, party leaders said.
BNP standing committee members including ailing Tariqul Islam, Mirza Abbas and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, vice-chairmen Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, Nitai Roy Chowdhury and Aminul Hoque, BNP chairperson’s adviser Taimur Alam Khandaker, senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and law affairs secretary Sanaullah Mia, among others, were named in ‘ghostly’ cases while joint secretary general Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, assistant climate change affairs secretary Mostafizur Rahman Babul and assistant religious affairs secretary John Gomez , among others, were arrested in September, party leaders said.
The fresh spell of arrest, prosecution and raid began from September 1, the day BNP celebrated its 40th founding anniversary, they said. Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman said that investigation into old cases usually continued until submission of the police report.
He said that new cases might be filed when any offence was committed.
About BNP’s allegation of filing ‘ghostly’ cases, he said that it was a common allegation.
New Age correspondents from districts, including Barishal and Tangail, reported that local BNP leaders and activists were on the run in fear of arrest. Barishal south district BNP president Ebadul Hoque Chan said that it was difficult to count but several hundred leaders were named in 50 cases.
Barishal north district unit president Mejbahuddin Farhad said that the leaders and activists were in fear of arrest. Barishal metropolitan police commissioner Mosarraf Hossain said that no separate statistics of cases against and arrest of BNP leaders and activists. He claimed that police arrested only the people named in cases.
Barishal district superintendent of police Saiful Islam claimed that not a single political case was filed and none was arrested without being named in a case.
Tangail district BNP president Shamsul Alam Tofa alleged that a case was filed with Gopalpur police station in September against 300 leaders and activists, naming 36.
Police arrested Tangail district BNP general secretary Farhad Iqbal on September 8.Tangail model police station officer-in-charge Sayedur Rahman said that Iqbal was arrested in a case of sabotage injuring police members filed in July.
BNP-backed Sakhipur upazila parishad vice-chairman Mohammad Sabur Reza said that police detained five leaders, including Sakhipur municipal BNP former general secretary Abdul Gani, municipal Jubadal vice-chairman Sentu Mia and upazila Krishak Dal general secretary Fazlur Rahman, raiding houses of the upazila’s top leaders on September 6.
Police filed a case on September 7 accusing 16 local BNP leaders and 50–60 unnamed activists of preparing for sabotage, BNP leaders said.
About 500 leaders and activists of Sakhipur and Basail upazilas are on the run, they said. Tangail superintendent of police Sanjit Kumar Roy said that no false cases were filed against anyone.
- Courtesy: New Age /Sep 29,2018
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