Charges against BNP leaders lack credibility
ARREST of 63 BNP workers including the president of Jubo Dal betrays the unwarranted treatment of the AL of its political opponent. Not only have the BNP workers been charged under the Special Powers Act, six of them have also been taken on remand.
The reason given by the police for the arrest is unacceptable. To say the least, suspicion of 'planning to instigate' is very tenuous, if not ludicrous, and does not stand up to legal scrutiny. And whoever has heard of people planning subversive activities in broad daylight with such a large number of people in one place?
It seems that the threshold of the government to countenance dissent or any other form of demonstrative political action against its policies is getting lower and lower by the day. The aggressiveness with which BNP is being dealt with and the recent arrests must bring to question the legality of the action as also the judiciousness of AL's policy, and making all its claims of adhering to democratic practices less and less credible.
We protest the tactic of the government to stifle opposition political activities. When meetings inside the four walls of one's house are being prevented by the police, who seem to have been given a free rein, can there be any doubt about the declining state of democracy in the country? Does it really bear out the much flaunted declaration of the PM about the march of democracy in Bangladesh? We hope the ruling party is not unaware of the fact that stifling open and legal political activity may spawn clandestine and illegal movements.
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