Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has denounced the use of arson by any political party as a means of advancing its political agendas or protests.

The recent horrifying incident involving the deaths of four individuals, including a three-year-old child, in an arson attack on a train, fire assaults on public transport, and sabotage on rail tracks have prompted TIB to call for an immediate cessation of destructive political maneuvers that result in the loss of innocent lives and state assets, according to a press release.

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The tragic incident at the Tejgaon rail station in Dhaka, where miscreants set fire to three compartments of the Mohanganj Express on Tuesday morning, resulting in the killing of four individuals, including a mother and a young child, is of grave concern. Such incidents cannot be isolated, and any arson attacks, sabotage of rail infrastructure, or similar actions in the lead-up to the national parliamentary election cannot be justified as legitimate expressions of democratic rights or protests, it said.

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“The act of burning people alive can never be a means of promoting political agenda. No political party should use such means at the expense of human lives. It is unjustifiable to try to serve a political purpose capitalizing on violence that kills people,” said Dr Iftekharuzzaman, TIB executive director.

 “The normalization of use of force and violence in Bangladeshi politics is concerning. This growing distancing of politics and political parties from public welfare, fixating solely on power, intensifies the ongoing bankruptcy in our political landscape. Using human lives as a means to achieve political goals has regrettably become a prevailing political culture in our country. We urgently call upon all concerned to refrain from any use of force and abstain from politics that leads to loss of life, particularly in the run-up to the election. This is critical to prevent the rise of undemocratic forces,” he added.