Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Sunday in a message on her Twitter account said the government did ‘nasty’ politics by raiding her office using police for no reason.
She also said her party wants to free the country from such bad politics.
“Using police to raid opposition party office without any cause is exactly the kind of nasty politics we want to remove from the country,” she tweeted yesterday afternoon.
Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in his party’s reaction demanded immediate resignation of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal for carrying out what the party said ‘unprecedented and unlawful’ raid on its Chairperson’s Gulshan office.”It’s a black chapter of our country’s history. The Home Minister must step down,” he told a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the city yesterday.
On Saturday police raided BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan party office as per a search warrant issued by the court to find out whether there is any anti-state document in it. The drive that began at 7:30am ended around 9:30am, and there was no recovery of any anti-state document.
“It has become clear that as per the Home Minister’s directive, police carried out the drive unlawfully and the Home Minister must shoulder its responsibility,” Fakhrul said.
He said raids were carried at the party’s Nayapaltan central office several times in the past but no such search had been launched at the Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
“Our Chairperson’s office came under attack when BNP is marching ahead with peaceful programmes like the ‘Vision 2030’ The ruling Awami League’s such fascist attitude and aggression towards BNP will destroy the country’s future democracy,” Fakhrul said. The leader expressed grave concern over what he said ‘mass arrest of BNP leaders and activists’ across the country. “The government has demonstrated once again that it does not believe in democracy by carrying out the raid,” the BNP Secretary General said.
Supreme Court Bar Association President and BNP Vice Chairman Advocate Zainul Abedin said as per the CRPC rule two local elite persons must be present during such a raid. “But no such person was present during the drive.”
As per the law, he said, the authorities will have to inform the owner of the building and its inmates before conducting such a raid. “As these legal procedures were not followed, this was an illegal raid,” he observed. Fakhrul said their party’S senior lawyers will take next legal steps in this regard after discussions. In the wake of a police raid on her office, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia last night held a meeting of her party’s standing committee. Meanwhile, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Sunday said based on intelligence report the raid was conducted at BNP Chief Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office.
“I talked to the Home Minister and the Inspector General of Police about the sudden raid on Khaleda’s office and they have told me that police conducted the raid based on an intelligence report,” he said while speaking at a views- exchange meeting between AL central office secretaries and district office secretaries at a community center in the city’s Dhanmondi area.
Reacting to Fakhrul’s remarks, Quader, also Road Transport and Bridges Minister, said Mirza Fakhrul invented a relation between the raid and democracy. “When BNP was in power, they raided our party office frequently and sealed off our Centre for Research and Information. They also indulged in repression on our leaders and workers. Even, they threw bombs and fired gunshots targeting our office,” he said
“Did they forget it? Whether the democracy was right at that time?” the AL leader questioned. Meantime, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Sunday said the members of law enforcing agencies can carry out raid at any places as per the need of state’s security.
“Based on intelligence reports, the raid was carried out at BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s office. And as part of routine work, police did it,” he told journalist sat his Secretariat office yesterday Replying to a query about BNP’s protest, the Home Minister said no such situation has been created that they can go for movement
