BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday alleged that the government has been hacking the smartphones of the opposition leaders by using the ‘Pegasus’ spyware as part of its move to subdue its opponents.

Speaking at a discussion, he also accused the Awami League government of trying to completely depoliticise Bangladesh by using the state machinery and holding the next polls without the participation of the opposition parties.

“The telephone (cellphone) in your pocket is now your worst enemy,” the BNP leader said warning the opposition leaders and activists.

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He alleged that the people of Bangladesh have been spied upon by the government with the Pegasus spyware as this technology is helping the regime collect any person’s telephonic conversations, SMS, and other documents on their cellphones. 

“They are now hacking the telephones of the opposition leaders to suppress the opposition parties and eliminate the dissent. This can’t happen in any democratic county…my privacy, politics, and democracy are my rights. As per democracy, the government can’t snatch my every right if it wants to,” Fakhrul said  

National People’s Party (NPP) arranged the programme at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) marking its 16th founding anniversary.

Fakhrul alleged that the government has started implementing its various plots by using the state machinery as it did in the past to remove the opposition parties from the election field.

As part of the plots, the BNP leader said the Law and the Home Ministries have sent letters to law enforcement agencies and the judges to ensure prompt trials of the political cases filed since 2013 and dispose those of by two months.

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“It has exposed their target to completely depoliticise the country and hold a lopsided election without the participation of the opposition parties by using the state machinery, including the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary. Under such a situation, the people of Bangladesh can’t go to the polls and reflect their wills,” he said.

The BNP leader said the people of Bangladesh have not leased the country to any party.

He said there is no point in making any compromise with the current government as it will again fool people.  “There can be some discussions as per the democratic norms, but with whom we will discuss as the government doesn’t believe in democracy and the rights of others.”

Fakhrul said they believed the Awami League government and joined the election under it through talks in 2018, but they were made fools before the people. “So, there’s no question of it (talks with AL).”

He said the government is trying to prevent the opposition parties from joining the election and making the opposition leaders ineligible for election. “But people have awoken this time and they’re coming to the streets to protest against the misdeeds of the government.”

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He said most of the democratic political parties are now united in one thing that the next election must be held under a non-party neutral government and the current regime must quit. “This regime is constitutionally illegitimate and it has no right to destroy the hopes, aspirations, and dreams of people by holding another election under it.”

Voicing deep worries over the rise in dengue cases in the capital, he slammed the city corporation authorities for their failure to control the mosquito menace.

Read more: Fakhrul apprehends 'three-peat' of poor elections under AL