‘Is BNP claiming responsibility for violence against Hindus in 2001?’

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today asked opposition BNP leaders to make it clear whether the party is claiming responsibility for the communal attacks and violence against the country's Hindu community in 2001 after it came to power.

Quader, also Road, Transport and Bridges Minister, said this while addressing a press briefing at his residence in the capital.

In response to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul's remark that no communal tension happens without the government abetting it, Quader said, "So is BNP now claiming responsibility for the communal tension in 2001? I expect the BNP leaders will make their position clear to this end."

Referring to Mirza Fakhrul asking what Iqbal's whereabouts were before he was arrested for placing the Holy Quran at a Cumilla puja mandap, the incident that sparked communal tension and saw numerous attacks on the Hindu community across the country, Quader said, "BNP is infected with the virus of suspicion. It has become their habit to question or tarnish any success or achievement by others."

"When everyone is having a sigh of relief over Iqbal's arrest after he was identified from CCTV footage, the BNP secretary general now raises question regarding his whereabouts prior to arrest," the AL general secretary said.

"Why don't you (Mirza Fakhrul) come up with the information on where Iqbal was in the last few days before his arrest?" -- Quader also said.

BNP, which has always considered the Hindu community a political opposition, is now shedding crocodile tears over attacks on the Hindus while blaming the government for the violence, the minister said.

"The countrymen know well about BNP's double standards. It is their way of trying to get away with their own crimes by making exaggerated reactions over any issue," he added.