Rally permission to BNP denied
It is not clear why the BNP was denied permission by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police to hold a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on January 7 to mark what it calls "the democracy killing day" on January 5, the third anniversary of the parliamentary polls in 2014 which major opposition parties including the BNP had boycotted. This is in sharp contrast to AL's holding rallies and processions for observing what it called "Victory of the Democracy Day". Is it really a true manifestation of democracy when a major political party office is put under siege and it is denied permission to hold public meetings? Is this the face of true democracy?
This is, however, not the first time the BNP was at the receiving end of such treatment from the authorities. The party which enjoys considerable public support, a fact conveniently forgotten by the ruling party, was refused approval for organising rallies and human chains on at least seven occasions in the last three years. What message does it give about the state of our democracy in the country?
Can democracy succeed if all the emphasis is on holding on to power and too little on its other essential features? What is democracy if individual rights such as freedom of speech and freedom to organise are not guaranteed? We have been constantly pointing out the ever shrinking political space of the opposition which does little to serve the cause of democracy. We wonder if the AL has achieved anything by not allowing BNP to organise a political programme.
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