BNP on Saturday expressed serious concern over the alarming rise in harassment and violence against women, urging the government to take immediate action to prevent the rise of extremism.

“A person was seen stopping rickshaws to ask female students what dress they would wear at their university on the occasion of International Women’s Day. This is a sign of extremism. This cannot happen,” said BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, he said the government should take appropriate action on all these issues to ensure that militancy does not rise in any way. “May evil forces not arise in the path of our modern progress and development,” the BNP leader added.

He called upon the interim government to take strong action to suppress all forms of anarchy, including the repression of women, and to establish justice in the country.

“We are observing with great concern that the incidents of violence and harassment against women across the country have increased at an alarming rate,” Rizvi said.

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He said just as women suffer from insecurity on the roads in their daily lives, they are also being subjected to adverse behaviour online.

The BNP leader lamented that women from all walks of life, including students and female workers, are being subjected to eve-teasing, molestation and sexual harassment in various places, including on the streets and in educational institutions.

“Women are being raped, tortured and killed. The culture of harassment and attacks on women, coupled with the overall impunity that has developed, has become a threat to the stability and harmony of the state,” he observed.

Rizvi said it is necessary to find out why women’s dignity and security are being undermined now through social degradation and whether there is any intentional conspiracy behind this.

“There may be support or incitement from extremists behind this barbarity and violence. Or there may be attempts to destabilise the country and take advantage of it, with the goal of turning Bangladesh into a conservative state, where women are deprived of their rights in their own country,” he said.

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On behalf of the BNP, he strongly condemned these continuous incidents and demanded appropriate punishment for the culprits.

“It is our moral responsibility to protect the dignity and freedom of women, which is their constitutional right,” the BNP leader mentioned.