National Citizen Party (NCP) Chief Organiser (Southern Region) and lawmaker Hasnat Abdullah on Wednesday painted a dire image of the state of citizen's rights under the BNP, comparing the situation to North Korea under the Kim dynasty and alleging the BNP government has detained 30 people solely for expressing their views during its eight months in office.

"People are not being able to express their opinions. Anyone who speaks against the government is being detained," Hasnat said while addressing a public outreach programme at Gulistan in the afternoon.

Hasnat said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had stated before the election that he believed in the freedom of dissent, but no evidence of that is visible now.

"The Prime Minister made such remarks to win the election and win over the public. In reality, there is no basis to his words," he said.

Drawing a comparison between Bangladesh's current situation and North Korea, the NCP leader said, "In that country, there is only one party, one person comes to power, and after casting votes for him, people must come out and appear happy by smiling and applauding. The BNP is heading in that direction. People are being detained the moment they speak of their sufferings."

Criticising the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hasnat said, "During the Awami League's rule, there was a 'Prime Minister's man'. Now there is a 'Home Minister's man'. This IGP, who came from abroad, is working in the interest of the Home Minister. No one likes him anymore."

Warning that people's freedom of speech cannot be curtailed by any means, and that no extrajudicial killings will be tolerated in Bangladesh, he demanded the removal of the IGP.