Law enforcing agencies will perform their duties if anyone causes public sufferings in the name of protests by blocking roads and vandalism, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday.
The Home Minister referred to a recent statement by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that any party can hold their activities peacefully and there is no objection from the government.
But, the minister said, action will be taken if there is any vandalism or public sufferings.
“The Prime Minister believes that if the political activities are conducted normally, parties will hold meetings and talk about their demands. Our government does not intend to obstruct and are not obstructing such activities,” the minister said.
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The minister made the remarks as he talked to journalists in a dialogue organised by Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) at the secretariat on Thursday.
He said that in case of any violent act, cases will be filed as a normal procedure.
“Yesterday, a former justice's car was vandalised and he filed a case following the normal procedure. There is no need to find the smell of politics here,” said the minister.
When asked if old political cases are being reopened against the opposition leaders, he said, ”There is a backlog of cases that need to be disposed of. We cannot keep old cases pending for decades, so nothing is being done here.”
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He said Awami League has always believed a party has to come to power through the people's mandate, and if any kind of untoward incident occurs or there are attempts to do so, the security forces will act.