Politics
Another central BNP leader arrested as crackdown continues
Organizing Secretary of the BNP's National Executive Committee, Syed Imran Saleh Prince, was picked up by the Detective Branch from a residence in Dhaka on Saturday, his family said.
A team of DB police arrested him from a relative’s house in Dhaka’s Badda this evening, BNP Chairperson's press wing member Sayrul Kabir Khan, confirmed.
Meanwhile, five people including BNP’s National Executive Committee Co-Organizing Secretary and Kishoreganj District BNP President Shariful Alam, were arrested from a house in Bhairab upazila on Saturday morning.
Four others are: Bhairab Upazila BNP's former Joint Conveners Saiful Haque and Nuruzzaman, Shariful Alam's personal driver Ratan Mia and the owner of the house Mazharul Islam.
A team of DB police raided the house around 3am and arrested them around 6am, Bhairab Upazila BNP unit President Md Rafiqul Islam confirmed the arrest.
When contacted, Kishoreganj Superintendent of Police Mohammad Russell Sheikh said he was not aware of the arrest.
Deviating from constitutional path will make country fall behind again: Law Minister
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq on Saturday said whatever happens in the future has to be within the confines of the constitution and rule of law. If this is violated, the country will fall behind once again.
"Bangabandhu made the people the owners of all the powers of the republic in the constitution he gifted the people. Articles 26-47 of this constitution include provisions for fundamental rights. Arrangements have been made to ensure equality of opportunity for all citizens," Anisul said.
Justice soon for killing policeman: Law minister
All the provisions of how parliament will be formed, how the government will be formed, how elections will be held are clearly mentioned in the constitution, the minister said while addressing a seminar organised by the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs at Radisson Hotel in the capital on Saturday marking the National Constitution Day 2023.
“The experience of the last half-century showed that whenever Bangladesh deviated from the constitutional rule introduced by Bangabandhu, the rule of law and justice in the country has been disrupted. There has been an anarchic situation in the country and basic human rights have been forgotten. After all, the country's development has been hampered,” said Anisul.
PM Hasina to decide on size of election-time govt: Law Minister
“So we have to learn from past experiences and move forward. Whatever happens in the future has to be within the constitution and the law. If this is violated, the nation will fall behind once again,” he added.
“Bangabandhu formulated the Constitution of Bangladesh in the light of his long political career experience and the spirit of the Liberation War. The Bengali nation got a people-oriented and world-class constitution just 10 months after independence, but the history behind it is very extensive and thorny,” the minister also said.
Looking forward to all taking part in election: Law Minister
“To get a people-oriented constitution, many movements had to be made against the military and autocratic rulers during the then Pakistan regime, a lot of blood had to be given,” he said.
Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was the chief guest at the seminar. Law Commission member Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and Law and Justice Division Secretary Md Golam Sarwar were present as discussants.
By-polls to Brahmanbaria-2, Laxmipur-3 constituencies on Sunday
The by-elections to Brahmanbaria-2 and Lakshmipur-3 constituencies will be held on Sunday (Nov 5).
Authorities have started distribution of election materials from Saturday ahead of the by-elections.
In Brahmanbaria, ballot papers, ballot boxes, seals and other equipment were distributed for a total of 132 polling stations in 84 centers of Sarail upazila and 48 centers of Ashuganj upazila.
The assistant returning officers of the upazilas handed over these tools to the presiding officers of different centers. Later they took these election materials to the polling station amid tight security.
Md. Shahgir Alam, district returning officer and district commissioner, said all kinds of preparations have been made to hold the by-elections in a fair and festive manner. Adequate number of law enforcement officers including RAB, Police, Executive Magistrate will be stand by for the overall security of the election, he added.
A total of 4,10,072 voters in Brahmanbaria-2 constituency are expected to exercise their voting rights in the by-polls.
Meanwhile, all out preparations have been taken to conduct the by-polls to Laxmipur-3 constituency peacefully, said Farhad Hossain, the returning officer of the election.
Voting will start at 8 am, and it will continue till 4 pm without any break, he added.
He said besides the presiding officers, 16 executive magistrates, 950 policemen, 1495 Ansars and 6 platoons of BGB have been deployed. In addition, seven teams of RAB will be patrolled during the elections.
Deputy Commissioner Suraiya Jahan said that Lakshmipur by-elections will be conducted peacefully, if there is any irregularity or if anyone tries to create anarchy, strict action will be taken.
Earlier, on October 1, the parliament secretariat declared the two seats vacant, following the deaths of Lakshmipur-3 lawmaker AKM Shajahan Kamal and Brahmanbaria-2 lawmaker Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan.
17 parties’ inc. BNP stay away from EC's dialogue
A total of seventeen registered political parties, including main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not participate in Saturday's discussions arranged by the Election Commission about preparations for the 12th parliamentary election.
The Election Commission organized two sessions with 22 parties each, with the first including Awami League at 10:30 am on Saturday and with 22 other parties including BNP and Jatiya Party at 3 pm.
Apart from the BNP, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal, Biplobi Workers Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Bangladesh Kallyan Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Muslim League BML and Bangladesh Muslim League, also abstained from the dialogue.
EC started discussion with registered political parties to inform them about preparations for the 12th parliamentary election.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal presided over the discussions at the Election Commission building in Dhaka’s Agargaon. The presidents and general secretaries of the parties, or alternatively two representatives of their choosing, were invited for the dialogue.
According to the constitution, parliamentary elections must be held in the 90 days before the end of the five-year term of parliament. The term of the current parliament ends on January 29, 2024 while the 90-day count started from November 1, 2023.
The Election Commission said that it is preparing to announce the schedule of the national election in mid-November and hold the election in January.
'If people are your strength, resign and take part in election under neutral govt'- Rizvi to PM
The country's embattled opposition party, the BNP, on Saturday alleged the government has created an appalling situation in the country to try and eliminate their political opponents through the use of force - precisely copying the brutality and misrule of the Pakistani occupation force of 1971.
Speaking at a virtual press briefing, the party's senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged the government has launched a drive to arrest the BNP’s "top to union-level" leaders and workers, with the aim of holding another lopsided election.
"Sheikh Hasina plans to obliterate BNP by force. A terrible situation similar to 1971 is now prevailing in Bangladesh. The Awami League government is exactly copying the cruelty and misrule of the occupation forces of 1971. Awami League is now holding 'peace' rallies like the (pro-Pakistani) 'peace' committees of 1971,” he said.
The BNP leader said the Pakistani occupation forces took away the family members when they did not find the freedom fighters in their houses during the Liberation War in 1971.
“Today's 'Awami' police is following that example. If the son is not found, his brother is taken away, if the brother is not found, his father is taken away. We have to receive such inhuman news constantly from all over the country," he said.
Rizvi said the nation is now witnessing new models of fictitious cases. A Jubo Dal leader, identified by Rizvi as Mamun, was implicated in a case for hurling a crude bomb in Barishal after he had been arrested from Dhaka.
Another BNP leader, Kankan, was implicated in a case for throwing a petrol bomb at a truck, while he was in jail implicated in a separate case. “You will see these things coming up in the newspapers. We often see and hear the news about these funny stories and jokes in the media.,” Rizvi said.
The BNP leader said their party leaders and activists are being repressed and harassed by being named and accused in ‘ridiculous’ cases.
"A spree of arrests from the national leaders of the country to the grassroots ones at the union level is going on in an indescribable manner,” he said.
Besides, he said the opposition leaders and followers are being attacked and killed while observing their democratic programmes.
Rizvi said more than 176 BNP leaders and activists were arrested across the country in the last 24 hours as of 4:30 pm Saturday.
The BNP leader claimed that at least 7,713 BNP leaders and activists were arrested all over the country in 506 fresh cases over the last one week, centring the party’s grand rally at Nayapaltan and subsequent hartal and blockade programmes.
Besides, he said 5,780 opposition leaders and activists were injured, while nine others and a journalist were killed in police actions during the period.
Rizvi claimed that their party leaders and activists, including standing committee member Mirza Abbas, have been subjected to mental and physical repression, besides authorities' misconduct in jail.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is unwilling to hold a free and fair election as she has developed a taste for staying in power through lopsided polls. “She will hold the unilateral polls even if it means indulging in bloodshed.”
Rizvi attempted to goad the PM to prove her democratic credentials by arranging elections under a neutral government.
“The prime minister told a foreign media outlet a few days back that people are her main strength. Then why are you not arranging a fair election by handing over power to a non-partisan government? If the people are with you, then why are you afraid of coming to power by holding a free, participatory and competitive election under a neutral government?”
He also questioned why the government is arresting the top leaders of BNP and other opposition parties ahead of the election, after 'brutally' attacking their Nayapaltan grand rally on October 28.
"If the people are on your side, why should you adopt this destructive and bloody path? A government that the people fear is a dictatorial government. One that instead fears the people is a democratic government," the BNP leader said.
BNP-Jamaat leaders have become ‘enemies of the people’: Info Minister
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said those who are sponsoring arson and terrorism from behind the scenes will be brought out of their pits and dealt with.
Mahmud, also the ruling Awami League's joint secretary-general said this while addressing a memorial meeting marking the 11th death anniversary of former presidium member of Awami League, Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury Babu, at a convention centre in Chattogram city on Saturday.
No one spared from clutches of BNP extremists: Info Minister
Chattogram City, North and South District units of Awami League jointly organized the programme.
Hasan said BNP-Jamaat alliance leaders have now become the 'enemies of the people', accusing them of setting vehicles on fire and burning people alive.
Invitation to Global Gateway Forum demonstrates world leaders are with Sheikh Hasina: Info Minister
“BNP had said that the final would be played on (October) 28th, but they left the ground before the game. The police did not fire a single bullet - everyone, including Mirza Fakhrul, left the stage due to the sound grenade of the police, and the leaders and activists also followed. In other words, BNP left the field before the start of the game," Hasan said.
Addressing the leaders and workers of Awami League and its affiliates, the minister said, "It is our responsibility as a ruling party to ensure peace and order in the country.”
Dhaka’s streets to be under AL’s control on October 28: Info Minister
Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, son of late Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury Babu, addressed the programme as special guest.
BNP-led opposition's 48-hour blockade set to disrupt start of working week
The BNP and like-minded opposition parties are set to enforce another nationwide blockade of road, rail and waterways for 48 hours from Sunday morning to mount pressure on the Awami League regime to quit and pave the way for the next election under a non-party neutral administration.
The blockade will begin at 6am Sunday and end at 6am Tuesday across the country.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami will also enforce a 48-hour blockade simultaneously, demanding the current government's resignation and installation of a non-party neutral administration to oversee the 12th parliamentary election.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi called upon the country’s people along with BNP supporters to observe the programme spontaneously to make it successful.
Vehicles of the newspapers or media, ambulances and vehicles transporting oxygen cylinders and medicines will remain out of the purview of the three-day blockade.
Apart from BNP and Jamaat, the 12-party alliance, Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote, Ganatantra Mancha, LDP, Gonoforum and People’s Party, Gonotantrik Bam Oikya, Gono Odhikar Parishad Labour Party and NDM will also observe the blockade programme separately.
Meanwhile, a dawn-to-dusk hartal will be enforced by BNP in Chattogram on Sunday in protest against the arrest of the party’s standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.
Md Idris Ali, office coordinator of the city unit BNP, said Chattogram metropolitan, north and south district units of BNP called for the daylong hartal protesting the arrest of Amir Khosru, also a former minister.
Ambulances, vehicles carrying newspapers, journalists and fire service will remain out of the purview of the hartal which will begin at 6:00 am.
Earlier the opposition parties observed a day-long hartal on October 29 and a three-day blockade from Oct 31 to November 2 demanding their one-point demand and protesting the attacks on its October 28 rally by police.
At least three people died amid sporadic incidents of clashes, arson attacks and arrests during the hartal.
The three-day countrywide blockade was also marked by clashes and widespread incidents of torching and vandalising vehicles that left four people killed.
Meanwhile, police arrested many BNP leaders and activists, including its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, and standing committee members Mirza Abbas and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, following the violence centring the party’s grand rally at Nayapaltan on October 28, that left two people, including a police constable, dead.
Half an hour after the start of BNP's much-talked-about grand rally at Nayapaltan, the party's leaders and workers locked into a clash with the police at Kakrail. With the passage of time, violent clashes spread around Nayapaltan, foiling the rally halfway through.
In the wake of that political violence, the Nayapaltan central office of the BNP remained locked with the deployment of a huge number of police in the area.
BNP-Jamaat must stop arson attacks or else we’ll stop them: PM Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today urged people to resist arson terrorists and if necessary “throw them into fire to teach them a good lesson.”She called the opposition BNP “arson terrorists”.
PM Hasina to leave Dhaka for Saudi Arabia tomorrow“I will urge people of the country, including Dhaka dwellers, to resist these arson terrorists. If necessary, nab them and throw them in that fire,” she said.“The hand used for arson terrorism should be burnt with that fire. Then they will learn a lesson,” she said.
PM Hasina opens metro rail's run from Agargaon to MotijheelThe prime minister was addressing a rally organised by Dhaka Divisional Awami League at Arambagh area in Motijheel after inaugurating the Agargaon-Motijheel part of metro rail service and construction work of the 20 km MRT Line-5 (northern route).Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, alleged that arson attacks and “burning people are like a festival for BNP and its allies.”
Dhaka, New Delhi both to benefit from 3 newly opened dev projects: PM HasinaThis is their real character, she stated.“Their agitation means arson terrorism, killing people, attacking law enforcing agencies, and destroying everything,” she said.She asked BNP and its allies, including Jamaat, to stop their destructive activities immediately.
“If they don't stop this, we know very well how to stop them,” she warned.Workers’ Party president and local MP Rashed Khan Menon, Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam also spoke at the programme.Awami League Dhaka South City unit President Abu Ahmed Mannafi presided over the rally.
Join polls, stop arson attacks: Momen urges BNP
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Saturday urged BNP to publicly apologize to the people and expel the persons involved in recent attacks, destruction of assets and burning of properties and buses.
“Join the elections, stop arson attacks and destruction of properties,” he urged the BNP leadership.
While talking to reporters after attending a programme, Momen said BNP should expel those people who are involved in recent attacks.
Read: BNP calls dawn-to-dusk hartal in Ctg Sunday protesting arrest of Amir Khasru
Apart from brutally beating one policeman to death, the BNP supporters attacked the residences of Chief Justice and other judges, torched police outposts, set fire to dozens of buses, Police Hospital premises and to ambulances causing disruption of emergency medical services, Momen earlier said.
He said BNP did not spare on-duty journalists and camera personnel. The BNP activists attacked and critically injured at least 25 media professionals. Bangladesh Federal Journalist Union (BFUJ) issued a note condemning such activities.
Read: Govt must resign, parliament must be dissolved by Nov 10: IAB chief Charmonai Pir
Earlier, the Foreign Minister joined the launching ceremony of Unimart, the premium superstore in Bangladesh and a subsidiary of the United Group. It is the first flagship outlet outside Dhaka at Ambarkhana Point in Sylhet.
This purpose-built shopping destination offers all its popular brands under one roof – Unimart, Chef's Table, Crisp, Indulge, and the pharmacy chain Well Being.
United Group Chairman and Managing Director Moinuddin Hasan Rashid, and CEO of Unimart Murtoza Zaman, among others, attended the inaugural ceremony.
Read: Elections can't be stopped by arson: Salman F Rahman
This one-stop destination covering about 100,000 square feet and located in the heart of the Sylhet city will offer the signature quality assurance of Unimart with a wide range of local and imported products.
Around 2000 BNP leaders, activists sued, 150 arrested in Khulna
A total of 15 new cases have been filed against nearly 2000 BNP leaders and activists and more than 150 have been arrested in Khulna since the party’s grand rally in Dhaka on October 28.
Mizanur Rahman Milton, member of the party's Khulna media cell, alleged that police are arresting BNP leaders and activists indiscriminately and sending them to the court as unnamed accused in different cases filed in different police stations.
Read: Jubo Dal leader hacked after abduction in Natore
In Terokhada upazila of the district, a local BNP leader’s father, who died 11 years ago, was made an accused in a case filed under the Special Powers Act and the Explosive Substances Act.
His son, Senior Joint General Secretary of Terokhada Upazila BNP Chowdhury Fakhrul Islam Babu, said, “My father has been accused in the case; he died 11 years ago.”
Sub-Inspector (SI) of Terokhada police station Chanchal Kumar Halder filed the case under the Special Powers Act and the Explosive Substances Act on November 2.
Officer-in-charge of Khulna Sadar Police Station, Hasan Abdul Mamun, said that 1287 BNP leaders and activists were accused in three cases on charges of ‘being involved in a conspiracy against the government’. Another 12 cases were filed in nine police stations of the district.
Meanwhile, Khulna district BNP convener Amir Ejaz Khan, Mahanagar BNP joint convener Kazi Mahmud Ali, Dakop upazila BNP member secretary Abdul Mannan, district Chhatra Dal president Abdul Mannan have been arrested and sent to jail in various cases.
Read: 11 BNP leaders-activists arrested in Narail
Khulna district BNP convener Amir Ejaz Khan was arrested by the police in Jalma area of Batiaghata upazila.
Mohammad Shawkat Kabir, officer-in-charge of Batiaghata police station, said that he was arrested on Thursday afternoon in the Explosive Substances Act case filed at Batiaghata police station on Wednesday.