BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today vehemently criticised some ruling party ministers and lawmakers for allegations on BNP that it shook hands with Israel to topple the government.

“BNP has no link with Israel, rather it was with Palestinian and will remain in future,” Fakhrul said while addressing a press conference held at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka.

The BNP leader came up with the remarks following allegations from the ruling party ministers and lawmakers that the party associated with Israel and hatched conspiracy to overthrow the Awami League government.

“BNP is a liberal political party. It believes in changeover of power only through election process,” he added.

BNP wants trial of those committed crimes against humanity during our Liberation War, Fakhrul said. “But the trial will have to be held in a transparent manner, ensuring international standard.”

Fakhrul said leaders and activists of the party and its different front and associate bodies will hold protest rallies across the country on May 15, demanding immediate withdrawal of the cases lodged against Khaleda Zia.

To meet the demand, the party men will also hold a rally in Dhaka on May 16, he added.

BNP will brief diplomats working in Bangladesh this evening about the country’s latest political development.

The party’s senior leaders led by secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will brief the diplomats at 4:00pm at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, party insiders said.

Khaleda’s conviction could also be discussed in the meeting, the sources said.

Khaleda is now in jail as a special court on February 8 sentenced her to five years imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. 

BNP last briefed the diplomats on January 30.

Our worst apprehension, which we so desperately wanted to escape, has tragically become reality with an avoidable loss of lives—of a policeman and an opposition activist. With the government's change of heart in allowing the BNP to hold its grand rally in front of its party office in Nayapaltan, Dhaka, we thought the tension that had risen due to the ruling party's vow to keep a hold on the city streets would be eased. Despite reports of several obstructive measures being put in place to restrict a huge flow of opposition supporters entering Dhaka, there were little chances, until midday, that the protest would become violent.

Observers were rather worried about how the stand-off between police and Jamaat-e-Islami activists over the latter's vow to hold an unauthorised grand rally at Shapla Chattar would turn out. Instead of any trouble, Jamaat was allowed to have its rally, just a few hundred metres away from their planned spot in Motijheel. It was so content with its apparent success that the acting Jamaat ameer, Mujibur Rahman, thanked the police in his speech for the permission to hold their rally.

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What will happen on October 28?

The contrast between the two rallies could not be starker as the deadly violence, which foiled the BNP's grand rally, was not only due to the clashes between police and BNP activists, but also because it was bolstered by Awami League supporters. A number of reports said the first sign of trouble emerged when a minitruck carrying AL activists on the way to their "peace rally" was trying to pass through BNP supporters already assembled on the road between Kakrail Mosque and Shantinagar. Later, when clashes between the police and BNP activists spread to Bijoynagar, another group of AL activists joined police in fighting their political rivals.

Whoever had initiated the actual fight is a subject of proper, lawful investigation. But neither police nor the leaders of the ruling party can shrug off their responsibilities for the loss of lives and the mayhem. Why didn't police divert and direct the vehicles carrying AL supporters to a different route from a safer distance? Were those large contingents of law enforcement forces deployed throughout the city, and in particular the venues of the opposition parties, scared of the ruling party and could not direct them to an alternative route? Or was their presence on those spots only meant to tackle the opposition supporters?

Why didn't police divert and direct the vehicles carrying AL supporters to a different route from a safer distance? Were those large contingents of law enforcement forces deployed throughout the city, and in particular the venues of the opposition parties, scared of the ruling party and could not direct them to an alternative route? Or was their presence on those spots only meant to tackle the opposition supporters?

The biggest burden, however, lies with those politicians who had specifically instructed partymen to bring in poles and oars on October 28 and warned the BNP of repeating December 10, 2022, the day remembered for a similar grand rally of BNP, for which its office was raided and ransacked, one valuable life was lost, and dozens of its leaders and activists were put behind bars. Earlier, the politicians also coined "khela hobe" ("the game is on") for showing off its muscle power to suppress the opposition.

Despite appeals from the civil society for toning down inflammatory speeches and initiating dialogue to avoid bloodshed on the streets, the ruling party has upped the ante. No wonder a Bangla business daily, Bonik Barta, in its headline on the day asked whether it would be a "repetition of logi-baitha or peaceful assembly." The reference of logi-baitha is nothing less serious than the December 10, as it is a reminder of one of the deadliest political violence in our country that left about a dozen people killed.

Unfortunately, it was not only a repetition of history with loss of lives, including that of a policeman, and the crisis over political dispute on election management has become even worse. The rigidity of both the ruling party and the opposition seems to have come to a point where the prospect of holding any political programme peacefully—be it a rally or a hartal—seems to have disappeared. One of the city mayors has vowed to break the opposition's hartal with poles and oars. When the law enforcement agencies are entrusted with the duty of providing safety and security to citizens, why would members of a political party be taking up the policing role? The ruling party should stop organising parallel programmes and fuelling confrontation. Hasn't it already lined up a series of campaign programmes of its own?

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What should and shouldn’t happen in Oct 28 rallies

Though rights of association and expression do not depend on the Election Commission's registration, allowing Jamaat to hold its meeting despite an ongoing case at the highest court and without prior permission may raise eyebrows among some observers. The events of the day, however, indicate that the ruling party's sole objective is to deny any space to its nemesis, the BNP.

It's ironic that some of our ministers rubbish foreigners' concerns over political violence, but the advisory note issued by the US embassy to its citizens, that "demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence," has become a reality in less than 48 hours. We can only hope that our politicians will soon realise that further escalation needs to be avoided.

Kamal Ahmed is an independent journalist. His X handle is @ahmedka1

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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BNP has called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal for today protesting "police action" on the party leaders and activists in Dhaka's Kakrail area.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi confirmed the development to The Daily Star.

The areas surrounding the capital's Nightingale intersection turned into a battlefield as BNP men are waging a pitched battle with police for more than two hours.

The clash took place when BNP was holding a grand rally at its headquarters in Nayapaltan.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday alleged that the government foiled their party's grand rally at Nayapaltan through planned attacks after failing to prevent lakhs of people from joining the programme.

In a statement, he said, "The planned violence and armed attacks by the police and Awami League cadres on the pre-announced peaceful grand rally of the BNP are unprecedented and despicable."

The BNP leader also said the armed and bloody attacks on their programme were a reflection of what the Awami League leaders and the police have said since the announcement of the rally.

He said the government could not stop the rally by stopping the buses, trains, and launches.

"When they [the government] saw lakhs of people join the grand rally, braving the obstacles, they attacked our programme in a planned way and foiled it. The government made a complete master plan and attacked the BNP rally in fear of losing power," he observed.

Fakhrul said the ruling party leaders' announcement to resist the BNP's rally with sticks and police officers' threats of attack and mass arrest had been implemented yesterday.

He claimed that police and Awami "cadres" attacked the BNP followers with sticks and weapons as the crowd of the rally reached Kakrail Mosque.

"They [police] came to the party office at Nayapaltan by firing rubber bullets and lobbing tear gas shells. Senior leaders on stage were also fatally injured in police firing and tear gas shells," the BNP leader said.

He claimed that Mugda Thana unit Jubo Dal leader Shamim Mollah was killed in police firing during the attacks on their rally.

Besides, the BNP leader said over 1,000 other opposition leaders and workers were shot and seriously injured.

He said the injured opposition leaders and workers were undergoing treatment in different hospitals in the capital.

The BNP leader also claimed that more than three hundred of their party leaders and followers have been arrested since yesterday.

In the last few days, he said the police arrested more than 2,000 BNP leaders and activists centring the grand rally.

Fakhrul strongly condemned and protested against the attacks by police and the ruling party "cadres" on the BNP rally and demanded the release of those arrested.

He called upon the country's people to make the dawn-to-dusk hartal today a complete success.