BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Thursday alleged that the government is inviting danger for the country’s garment industry with its move to retain power by holding a lopsided national election on January 7.

Speaking at a virtual press briefing, he also accused the Awami League government of repressing the BNP leaders and workers in police remand to leave the party.

“The country’s people believe that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wants a guarantee to stay in power illegally by handing over the readymade garment business to other countries,” Rizvi said.

The BNP leader said their party has repeatedly warned the government that a one-sided election will deepen the country's political crisis and push the country towards danger.

“The government has already put Bangladesh’s (RMG) market undet a threat. The upcoming one-sided election is not just a renewal of Sheikh Hasina's power, but a licence to destroy Bangladesh," he said.

Rizvi urged the country’s people not only to boycott the stage-managed election but also to put up a mass resistance to ensure a credible and inclusive election by ousting the current regime from power.

Ignoring the opinions of buyers, he said the government has taken the country’s biggest export-oriented industry to the brink of destruction in the interest of a neighbouring country by taking a stand in favour of an exploitative policy of the pro-government opportunistic quarter and imprudently resorting to killing and repression to suppress justified demands of workers.

The BNP leader said the garment factory owners fear that sanctions on Bangladesh's garment industry are almost certain after the United States announced a new labour policy to protect labour rights.

He said the RMG sector has already lost 40 to 45 percent of the business. “Amid the uncertainty of garment industry, bizarre Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen showed his stupidity by saying nothing will happen if there are any sanctions.”

Rizvi also slammed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her comment that if the United States imposed sanctions, Bangladesh will also do the same against that country, saying her government is inviting danger for the garment industry, the sole source of bread and butter for millions of poor people.

Stating that 82 percent of the country's total garment exports are to the US and European countries, he said the RMG sector will be ruined if exports to these countries are hampered.

The BNP leader claimed that the arrested BNP leaders and activists have been subjected to serious torture in the name of police remand. “The torture on our arrested leaders and workers outshined the story of torture in the German concentration camps.”

He said they came to know that the BNP leaders and workers were tortured in police remand in a disgraceful manner only to take their consent to change their party.

Rizvi claimed that over 415 BNP leaders and workers have been arrested across the country in the last 24 hours as of 5 pm on Thursday.