Fakhrul in tears talking about plights of BNP activists
Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general on Tuesday turned emotional narrating the sufferings and plights of their party leaders and activists undergoing across the country.
“As I got stuck in traffic jam, a hawker came to me saying sir I was involved with BNP politics in Laxmipur. I came to Dhaka facing political cases there. Now I’m a hawker. This is how many of our party activists are also pulling rickshaws,” Fakhrul said struggling to hold his tears.
Fakhrul said this while talking at a programme arranged by Amar Desh Family at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in Dhaka protesting the shutting down of 30 web portals and demanding the release of its acting editor Mahmudur Rahman, according to a UNB report.
Accusing the government of arresting BNP leaders and activists across the country in the name of drive against militants, he said a brisk business by law enforcers over arrest is also going on.
He alleged that police arrested a BNP activist from Mirpur in connection with Kalyanpur incident where nine militants were killed and demanded Tk 15 lakh from him to get relieved of militant case. “He was later sent to jail in another case after realising Tk 5 lakh.”
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also alleged that the government is enacting new laws to gag the media and people’s voice.
“No one will be able to speak up (against government) as new laws are being formulated with a provision for life sentence and a fine of Tk 1 crore as punishment…now you (journalists) will have to work out what will be your role,” he said.
Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader further said, “Those of us who do politics have taken it for granted that the last days of our lives may be wasted in jail. We have to be there in jail for 250-260 years if we’re given punishment 5-10 years on average in the cases filed against us. But, you have to turn around,’’ UNB reported him as saying.
Earlier on Monday, the Cabinet approved in principle the draft of ‘The Digital Security Bill, 2016’ with a provision for maximum life term jail and Tk 1 crore fine for carrying out propaganda against the Liberation War and Bangabandhu or patronising propaganda on electronic media.
Fakhrul voiced his frustration that journalists could not register any strong protest against the closure of so many media outlets and the arrest of journalists.
He demanded the government reopen the media houses and release the arrested journalists.
The BNP leader urged the journalist community to play a bigger role in ‘restoring’ democracy, people’s ‘lost’ rights and save them from the current ‘suffocating’ situation.
Apparently voicing frustration over poor response to their party’s call for forging a national unity, he said, “I went to the leaders of different political parties, they tagged various condition. I want to question them whom will you give condition when you will become victim?”
Mentioning that political space has now got quizzed seriously, Fakhrul said BNP has denied permission by the authorities concerned for holding a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on August 31, saying no rally can be arranged in this month.