Govt suffering from heartburn over BNP’s peaceful demo

Senior Correspondent: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that the government is provoking from its heartburn to create a violent situation as the party is observing peaceful programme demanding its chairperson Khaleda Zia’s release.

The BNP stalwart came up with the allegation at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office on Thursday.

“All the programmes announced by BNP since the confinement of its chairperson were peaceful. So, the government is suffering from heartburn. They (govt) foiled our peaceful sit-in programme today (Thursday) and arrested our party men illegally,” he said.

Fakhrul said, “We were observing the sit-in programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club in a peaceful manner, but law enforcers foiled it without any provocation.”

“The beginning was very good. Suddenly, plainclothes police pounced on our Chhatra Dal leader Raj and tried to take him away from the programme. As Raj came to us to avoid arrest, the law enforcers forcibly detained him tearing his clothes amid scuffle,” he added.

The BNP leader alleged that plainclothes police in a planned way intruded their programme and created chaos. “The government is suffering from heartburn as we’re observing our programme peacefully. That’s why they’re foiling our programme. “They (DB police) are intruding our programmes, raising our slogans and arresting our party men.”

He said it is unimaginable in an independent country the way their party leaders are being arrested.

Fakhrul said their party leaders, who are supposed to play a proactive role in movement and the national election, are being selectively arrested by the government.

He demanded the government immediately release their party’s all arrested leaders and activists.

risingbd/Dhaka/March 08, 2018/Reza/A K Azad