BNP's relief operation obstructed
The BNP yesterday alleged that the government had obstructed the party's central relief team from visiting Cox's Bazar's Ukhia to provide humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees.
“We have received information that the Ukhia administration has barred our central relief team along with our 20 truckload of relief materials, from visiting the spot,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party.
He made the allegation at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, marking the 10th jail release day of BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman.
Md Ali Hossain, deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar, however, refuted the allegation.
“There are some rules and regulations for relief distribution. As per the rules, any individual or organisation has to arrange the distribution through the administration,” he told The Daily Star correspondent there. “The BNP leaders did not follow the rules.”
“Several high-profile BNP leaders went there. Had we allowed them to distribute reliefs on their own, untoward incidents could have occurred. We did not allow them do that because of their own security,” the DC added.
Fakhrul alleged the police also cordoned off the party office in Cox's Bazar.
The Awami League claimed that it had stood by the Rohingyas, but it was an “eyewash", said Fakhrul. "The government could not have barred the BNP's relief team if the AL had actually stood by the Rohingyas.”
He demanded that the local administration immediately allow the relief team to distribute relief materials among the Rohingyas.
A BNP delegation, led by the party's standing committee member Mirza Abbas, had gone to Cox's Bazar on Tuesday to provide medicines, food and other humanitarian aids to the Rohingya refugees, who entered Bangladesh fleeing an ongoing military offensive in Myanmar's Rakhine State.
Comments