BNP blames govt for hate campaign

Apprehending that the government may "sabotage" the March 12 rally, the opposition BNP yesterday said using state apparatus the ruling party was trying to create fear and confusion among the people about the rally.
“The government itself is talking about sabotage and chaos aiming to foil the rally. It is conducting 'hate campaign' against the rally in the name of sabotage”, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a press briefing at party's central office at Nayapaltan in the city.
He said the party feared that the government itself would carry out sabotage and then shifted the blame on the BNP. He also criticised the ministers and ruling party leaders for their provocative remarks over the rally.
The rally will be peaceful but the BNP will not delay announcing tougher programme if the rally is obstructed in any way, Fakhrul said.
“We have taken all preparations for our peaceful programme. We sought help for security reasons from the administration through letter. Yet the ruling party is trying to create fear among the people”, he said and asked the government to stop arresting and harassing opposition activists across the country.
Referring to the killing of a Saudi Embassy official, Fakhrul said the diplomatic zone should get top priority for security, but the government failed to do that as it had kept the law enforcers busy in repressing the opposition.