BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury are anticipated to be released from Keraniganj Central Jail following their lawyers' efforts to withdraw the production warrants against them in all cases. Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukdar, representing the BNP leaders, have initiated the legal process for the withdrawal of the production warrants. This comes after both leaders obtained bail in all cases, as confirmed by Sairul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP chairperson's media wing, to UNB. “The necessary legal steps are being taken following the provision that allows for the withdrawal of production warrants issued for the leaders to be presented in court while incarcerated,” the lawyers stated. Read: Fakhrul, Khasru secure bail; no bar to walk out of jail  Work on withdrawing the production warrants has already begun, with expectations that if completed by noon today, the BNP leaders could be released. The documentation related to the withdrawal is hoped to be finalized by Thursday evening. Advocate Masud mentioned that 13 production warrants had been issued against Fakhrul, highlighting the legal hurdles faced. However, Advocate Syed Joynal Abedin assured that there are no obstacles to their release as bail has been secured in all cases. The context for the anticipated release follows a Dhaka court's decision on Wednesday to grant bail to both Fakhrul and Khasru in connection with a case filed over the vandalism of the Chief Justice's residence during a BNP rally on October 28 last year. The Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judges Court's acting judge, Faisal Atiq Bin Quader, approved the bail upon reviewing their petition. Read: Usurping power AL govt showing arrogance: Rizvi The case was filed by the police on October 29, accusing 59 BNP leaders and activists, including Fakhrul and Khasru, of vandalism and assault during the rally. In total, 11 cases were filed against Fakhrul and 10 against Khasru related to violence surrounding the rally. Fakhrul was detained on October 29, and Khasru on November 3, both from their residences in Gulshan.

Ashraful Alom, popularly known as “Hero Alom”, on Saturday (August 5, 2023) took to social media to condemn BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi’s comments on his “education.” In a video, BNP leader Rizvi is heard saying: “A crazy and half-educated person like Hero Alom is contesting elections these days.” Hero Alom published a video on his social media account, criticizing Rizvi’s comments. Also read: Man arrested for making death threat to Hero Alom The social media content creator said: “I do not want to speak against anyone. But this is very sad. I have seen the video of BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi calling me crazy. He has also questioned my educational qualifications.” “I have the right to contest in elections. Nowhere in the law does it say that you have to have certain educational qualifications or that you have to look good.” Referring to the BNP leader’s comment on his education, Hero Alom said, “I have been called uneducated… You will find an option to write ‘self-taught’ on the nomination paper.” Also read: Karwanbazar pick-up owners’ association president arrested over attack on Hero Alom: Police “By calling me uneducated, you’re also calling yourself uneducated. Because, the leader of your party, BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaled Zia, completed education up to class 8. I have studied up to class 7,” he added. Hero Alom also criticized BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for his comments that, according to him, was belittling. He said, “Mirza Fakhrul has said ‘people like Hero Alom’ also contests elections, which is belittling. His words imply that I can be ridiculed.” “Many Awami League leaders, Jatiya Party leaders, politicians, and intellectuals talk about me in a derogatory way as well,” he added. Hero Alom urged politicians not to demean him. Also read: Amnesty International condemns attack on Hero Alom Hero Alom has recently been in focus of political discussion after being assaulted while leaving a polling station in the Banani area during the Dhaka-17 by-election last month. He contested in the election as an independent candidate. The physical assault on Hero Alom was strongly condemned by political parties as well as diplomats station in Dhaka, and human rights organizations.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (July 19, 2023) said the government is trying to bring back the money siphoned off by BNP leaders to different countries. “The money of many BNP leaders remains frozen (in foreign banks). We’ve been trying to bring these back gradually,” she said. Hasina, also president of Bangladesh Awami League (AL), was addressing a meeting of the AL-led 14-party alliance held at her official residence Ganabhaban in the evening. Also read: Denmark keen to invest in offshore wind energy in Bangladesh: Envoy Criticising the family of BNP leader Khaleda Zia for ‘their corruption’, she said the World Bank stopped financing during the BNP regime due to corruption in the road sector. The PM said the corruption committed by Khaleda Zia’s two sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko got revealed even before the foreigners and an FBI agent testified against Tarique in a money laundering case. She said the government was able to return Tk 40 crore from the amount of money they (Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko) laundered to foreign countries. “But the problem is that bringing back the money from the countries where they deposited is a difficult matter. The countries don’t want to release the money,” she added. Also read: Need to transform education system to build Smart Bangladesh: PM Hasina tells educators Focusing on her government’s success, the prime minister said Bangladesh has significantly advanced in every sector since 2009 during the regime of her government. “We can at least claim that Bangladesh has changed a lot in the last 14 and a half years. You can definitely realize it as well,” she said. Hasina said her government has successfully brought the poverty rate down to 18.6 percent now from 41 percent in 2006, while the extreme poverty rate to 5.7 percent from 25.1 percent. She said the government has been able to boost the production of foods including crops, fish, meat and vegetable, as well as provided free semi-pucca houses to 600,000 landless families and reached electricity facility to every house by raising power generation capacity significantly. Also read: Govt is always with you: PM Hasina tells businesspeople “We’ve achieved the electricity generation capacity to 25,000 megawatts within the 14 and a half years,” she said. The PM said there is no shortage of rice and other crops in Bangladesh. Noting that the government is setting up 100 special economic zones to generate employment, the PM said the unemployment rate came down to only 3 percent in the country. Also read: US visa policy to supplement govt commitment to hold free election: Uzra Zeya tells PM She said the government continues its steps to create entrepreneurs by providing different stimulus packages and training to the youth to bring down the unemployment rate further. “We’ve taken and implemented massive works not only for the infrastructural development of Bangladesh but also for its socio-economic upliftment,” she said. PM Hasina said Bangladesh today is considered as a role model for development throughout the world. Also read: Staying away from corruption can make possible the impossible: PM Hasina tells govt officials

Thousands of BNP leaders and activists began to gather before the party’s Nayapaltan central office with processions from different parts of Dhaka since Wednesday morning to hold their much-hyped rally. The leaders and activists carried banners, festoons, placards and portraits of party’s top leaders and shouted anti-government slogans as they converged at Nayapaltan venue before the scheduled start of the rally at 2 pm. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will address the programme as the chief guest and announce a ‘one-point' simultaneous movement to press for the resignation of the Awami League government paving the way for holding the next national election under a neutral government. BNP's entire movement set to boil down to one point through huge rally in capital BNP’s Dhaka south and north city units have already set up a temporary stage in front of the BNP office for the rally. A large number of members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed in the Nayapaltan area to maintain law and order. Earlier on Tuesday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) issued separate notices not only allowing the BNP to hold the rally at Nayapaltan but also the the ruling Awami League to hold a 'peace rally' not very far away at the Baitul Mokarram South Gate. Both parties were given permission to hold the rallies on 23 conditions, including ending the programmes by 5 pm. Govt trying to unleash violence to blame BNP: Fakhrul Alongside the BNP, its like-minded political parties are all going to announce the one-point demand through separate rallies in the capital today. Ganatantra Mancha, a platform of six parties that shares the BNP's view that the government must resign ahead of elections, or otherwise be toppled through a movement, will announce their participation in the one-point movement at 4 pm by holding a meeting outside the Jatiya Press Club. A separate 12-party alliance that similarly believes no fair election can be held under the Awami League-led government will come up with a similar announcement from a rally in front of Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU). The same is expected of the Jatiyatabadi Samomona Jote at Bijoynagar, the Liberal Democratic Party at Tejgaon and Gonoforum and People’s Party at Motijheel and Labour Party at Nayapaltan at different times of the day. Besides, two splinter groups of the Gono Odhikar Parishad (one led by Reza Kibria and the other by Nurul Haque Nur), Gonotantrik Bam Oikya, Samomona Gonotantrik Peshajibi Jote and Sadaran Chhatra Odhikar Sanrakshan Parishad will also hold rallies in front of the Jatiya Press Club around 3 pm and announce their participation in the one-point movement. One-point Movement: BNP sits with four allies From conversations with the leaders of the BNP and many of the smaller parties, it is expected that the joint declaration of the one-point movement will contain the demand for the resignation of the Awami League government, dissolution of parliament, formation of the polls-time impartial government and reconstitution of the Election Commission for arranging a free, fair and inclusive election. The unconditional release of all political prisoners, including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, withdrawal of all ghost cases, and annulment of all false convictions towards building a democratic state and restoring the voting rights of the people through amendments to the constitution and reforming the state system will also find a place in the rhetoric, but the realisation of these will all boil down to a single overriding objective: that the next parliamentary elections be held under a neutral and non-party government. Earlier at a public rally on December 10 last in the capital's Golapbagh field, the BNP had announced a 10-point charter of demands including the resignation of the government, the dissolution of parliament, and the transfer of power to a non-partisan government.BNP and its like-minded parties observed various programmes, including human chains, sits-in, road marches and rallies across the country, over the last seven months since the announcement of the 10-point movement, which itself came at the end of a programme of divisional rallies that started in August.  

Bangladesh's Road Transport and Bridges Minister and Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader has said that a number of BNP leaders are busy taking secret preparations to run in the election. He came up with the remarks at a rally organized by Dhaka Metropolitan North Awami League against the "anti-state conspiracy of BNP-Jamaat" in the capital's Mirpur this afternoon (June 16, 2023). He said many parties will participate in the election. Read: Fakhrul must apologise for derogatory remark on election: Obaidul Quader "There will be no shortage of political parties to join the polls. No matter how BNP conspires, the election will be held in this country," Quader added. Quader said BNP fears losing in the next election. He said that the election of Bangladesh cannot be prevented by anyone's visa policy and sanctions. "We do not interfere with anyone so we do not want interference from any foreign country in our elections. We are going to hold the elections as per law. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will remain the head of the government during the elections," he said. Read: BNP would only say election was fair if AL gets defeated: Quader Quader said the country's people have confidence about the elections and they will not be confused by BNP's statements over elections. "The BNP is now holding a road march after getting imbalanced and this road march will finally turn into a fall march," he said, adding that the BNP has no path. The AL general secretary said BNP has no control over its own party men while its activists became candidates in many city elections ignoring the command of BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Read: Participate in election to see whether you even get 10% votes: Information Minister to BNP "Now many of BNP leaders have started running from here and there to participate in the upcoming national elections," he said. Among others, AL joint general secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, organising secretary Afzal Hossain, Dhaka North City AL president Sheikh Bazlur Rahman, general secretary SM Mannan Kochi and Swechchhasebak League president Gazi Mejbaul Hossain Sacchu, spoke at the rally.

BNP senior leader Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Sunday (June 4, 2023) said the country’s people, not the Prime Minister, will decide whether they will go to the USA or not. “It is her (PM’s) personal matter whether she will go to any particular country or not. It’s also a matter of their decision whether the 17 crore people of Bangladesh will go to that country or not,” he said. Talking to reporters after a meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, Khosru also said the people of Bangladesh will decide whether they will go to the USA for their personal, business, professional, family and educational purposes. “The Prime Minister can’t take a decision in this regard,” Khosru, also the chairman of BNP’s foreign affairs committee, observed. Also read: Japan wants to understand what’s happening in Bangladesh and where it’s headed, BNP says as ambassador meets Fakhrul Earlier on Saturday (June 3, 2023), Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said it does not matter at all if someone does not go to the USA crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a 20-hour- plane journey. “There are other oceans and other continents in the world and we’ll make friends with those continents crossing the other oceans. Our economy will be stronger and more developed and vibrant,” she added. The PM also said Bangladesh will run on its own feet and the government will build the country. “We will not be dependent on others, who will not give us visas, who will impose sanctions on us.” Meanwhile, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the Prime Minister is not worried about the US sanctions or visa restrictions but a neutral election. Read more: BNP’s complaints to foreign countries didn’t yield any results: Quader “The Prime Minister becomes ill and suffers from headache when any country talks about fair elections under a neutral caretaker government,” he said. Speaking at a food distribution programme arranged by Jatiyatabadi Tanti Dal’s Dhaka south city unit on the ground floor of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office marking party founder’s 42nd death anniversary, Rizvi said the Prime Minister said it matters little if anyone does not go to the USA. “Then why don't you keep your son in the country? Why do your sons and daughters live abroad? Why did you keep your son in the United States instead of any other friendly country of yours?” he questioned. He said Sheikh Hasina will not take any steps for holding a fair election and establishing a caretaker government as she considers the country’s people as her enemies. Read more: Govt to blame for US’s disrespectful visa policy: Fakhrul “If an impartial caretaker government is established, the people of the country will be able to vote freely and fairly. She knows people won’t ‘vote for her party. So, doesn’t want a neutral caretaker government to come,” the BNP leader said.

BNP leaders Khairul Kabir Khokon and Fazlul Haque Milon were freed from jail on bail on Wednesday. They walked out of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj around 2 pm after the bail order reached the jail authorities, said BNP’s publicity secretary Rashedul Haque. Leaders and activists of BNP received BNP Joint Secretary General Khokon and former organizational secretary Milon at the jail gate. Also read: 66 BNP men sent to jail in 3 sabotage cases in Khulna On December 7 last year, a Swechchasebak Dal leader was killed and around 50 others were injured in a clash between police and the BNP activists in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office, ahead of its December 10 rally. Police arrested 470 BNP activists and leaders in connection with the clash and they were sued in two cases filed with Paltan and Motijheel police stations. Khairul Kabir Khokon and Fazlul Haque Milon were arrested on the same day following the clash.  

The Appellate Division this morning (January 08, 2023) upheld the High Court order granting bail to BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Mirza Abbas in a case filed over the clash between police and the party activists at Nayapaltan on December 7 last year. A four-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Hasan Foyez Siddiqui passed the order disposing of the state’s petition challenging the HC order. The court also ordered to dispose of the High Court rule on a maintenance ground. Read more: State files petition challenging HC bail to Fakhrul, Abbas On January 4, Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Jahangir Hossain fixed today (Sunday) for the hearing of the petition at the full-bench of the Appellate Division. The petition was filed on the same day with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court seeking stay on the High Court order granting bail to the two BNP leaders in the case. The High Court granted six months' bail to Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas, in the case on January 3. The HC also issued a rule asking the government to explain why the two BNP leaders should not be granted permanent bail. Read more: Nayapaltan clash: Fakhrul, Abbas get 6-month HC bail On December 21 last year, Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judge Asaduzzaman rejected the BNP leaders’ bail petitions for the fourth time. On December 9, a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police picked up Fakhrul and Abbas from their homes in separate raids in the capital. Later, they were shown arrested in a case over the clash between police and the party activists in the capital’s Nayapaltan. A Dhaka court sent them to jail rejecting their bail pleas. Read More: With or without BNP, election to be held on time: Razzaque

BNP on Thursday alleged that its arrested leaders and activists are being subjected to an ‘inhuman’ attitude in jail. "The leaders and workers at all levels of our party, including the top leaders, in jail are being treated inhumanely,” said party acting office secretary Syed Emran Saleh Prince. Speaking at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office, he also said although BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas and former ministers and MPs were supposed to get the division in jail, they were not given the division in the beginning. Even, Prince said, their party’s ailing Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmad and freedom fighter and former deputy mayor of Dhaka city Abdus Salam were not given the division. He also alleged that BNP top leaders were kept in lock-up for more than 24 hours after their arrest. The BNP leader said most of the party’s arrested leaders and activists are suffering from various complex diseases, including cardiac problems and diabetics, but the jail authorities are not allowing their families to send necessary medicines for them. Read more: Mirza Fakhrul, Abbas should’ve given division in jail earlier: HC  “Even, the necessary clothes can’t reach them (the arrested party leaders) in the jail. Though the families of the inmates are repeatedly taking the necessary items to jail gate, the prison authorities are returning them,” he said. Prince also alleged that most of the jailed leaders are now being allowed to meet their family members. “Even though they are jailed on false and fabricated charges, they are being treated like notorious murderers and criminals, which is a clear violation of the jail code and human rights,” the BNP leader said. He strongly condemned and protested against such abhorrent treatment attitude towards the jailed BNP leaders and activists and demanded that they be given the medical facilities and other benefits they deserve as per the jail code.” On December 7, BNP leaders and activists engaged in a clash with police in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office centring the party’s December-10 divisional rally in the capital. Read more: Nayapaltan clash: 445 BNP activists including Rizvi, Annie sent to jail, 2 get bail Later, police raided the BNP office and arrested around 450 party leaders and activists from there. The law enforcers also arrested Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas the following day.

A Dhaka court on Monday rejected the bail petition of 224 leaders and activists of BNP, including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas, in a case over the clash between police and the party activists in the capital’s Nayapaltan. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shafiuddin passed the order when their counsel sought bail for them. Earlier, on Sunday a court set Monday for hearing of the bail petitions of the BNP leaders and activists in the case. Read more: Fakhrul, Abbas, 5 other BNP leaders seek bail, hearing tomorrow The other BNP leaders include Dhaka south city unit convener Abdus Salam, Publication Secretary Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie, joint secretary Khairul Kabir Khokon, former organizing secretary Fazlul Haque Milon and Selim Reza Habib. On Friday, a Dhaka court sent Mirza Fakhrul and Abbas to jail rejecting their bail petitions in the case. In the early hours of Friday, a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police picked up Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas from their homes in separate raids in the capital city. Later they were shown arrested in a case filed under the Explosive Substances Act with Paltan police station over Wednesday’s clash. Read more: Fakhrul, Abbas sent to jail ahead of BNP’s Dhaka rally They were accused of instigating, planning and directing an attack on police, crude bomb explosion, destroying public property and lives, he added. On Wednesday, a Swechchasebak Dal leader was killed and around 50 others were injured in a clash between police and the BNP activists in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office, ahead of its December 10 rally. On Thursday, a Dhaka court sent 445 BNP leaders and activists including Annie and Salam to jail in two cases filed over Wednesday’s violence.