Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday said that the warning statements Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and their leaders are making are hollow.

“After the 2018 election, they said they would pull this government down. But now BNP’s rope has been torn. What Mirza Fakhrul and his leaders are saying now is like empty vessels make the most noise,” Hasan Mahmud, also the ruling Awami League’s joint general secretary.

Also read: ‘BNP now an old car with a weak battery’: Hasan Mahmud

The minister said this while addressing a peace and development rally of Dhaka Metropolitan North Awami League on the road adjacent to Mirpur 10 roundabout on Wednesday afternoon.

He said that the ruling party is ready to face the opposition BNP.

Also read: BNP leaders losing their mind over world's praise for Bangladesh: Hasan Mahmud

"Today I saw that BNP leaders have said the government will be brought down by besieging Dhaka and Narayanganj. We are ready. We will besiege the BNP,” he said.

Regarding the US visa policy, the information minister said, "Mirza Fakhrul said that their movement has been accelerated by the visa policy. He knows that the visa policy states that this policy will be applied to those who obstruct elections.”

“Mirza Fakhrul does not know that the leaders of the opposition parties are among those facing risks under the visa policy. If he knew, he wouldn't have said that,” he added.

“We have a very good relationship with the United States, and this relationship is getting closer day by day,” the minister said.

Also read: BNP shown red flag by people: Hasan Mahmud

The minister also said that it is up to the US to fix who will get a visa and who will not. “They have had this visa policy for a long time.”

Awami League Dhaka North Unit President Sheikh Bazlur Rahman presided over the rally while presidium members Faruk Khan and Shajahan Khan, former general secretary of undivided Dhaka City Awami League Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, state minister for industries Kamal Ahmed Majumder, among others, addressed the rally.