Several leaders and activists of Bangladesh Nationalist Party were injured in a pitched battle with the law enforcers in High Court area on Tuesday. The BNP men gathered at the High Court intersection around 1:00pm demanding immediate release of the party’s Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail. Earlier, they staged demonstration for around an hour demanding the same.
According to sources, the BNP men are not responsible for vandalising or damaging private cars. When the police intercepted the BNP men to bring out the procession they sat down before the Supreme Court gate. The police also locked the gate, it is alleged.
When lying is politics, one would not be surprised if the government people committed vandalism to discredit the protesters who were demanding, among others, the release of Begum Khaleda Zia. We condemn violence but that is not enough if any peaceful procession was attacked by police or miscreants.
Earlier in the day, on the same demand a pro-BNP platform Muktijuddher Projonmo held a programme at the Jatiya Press Club. They brought out a procession with several senior BNP leaders including its Vice-Chairman Abdullah Al Noman, Khaleda’s adviser Shawkat Mahmud and Gonoshasthya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, soon after concluding the programme.
Police claimed BNP activists attacked them in a pre-planned way equipped with wooden logs and sticks.It’s a matter of shame that the government, which has no way but to rely on police power for its own political existence, teasing BNP to go for street violence.
It should be a great failure when the government cannot face the political opposition peacefully. They speak in the language of police.
We find it shameful too to say that the government feels strong for police force being with them. Such a government is not a political government. The simple question is why police permission will be necessary for holding public gatherings by the opposition when the Constitution guarantees such right.
Police must be informed of any public gathering for ensuring protection. Police cannot become the deciding authority whether any public meeting should be permitted or not.
The government is unabashedly provoking the opposition for going to confrontational politics with the police. The government’s youth front is acting side by side with police flexing their muscles.
The government has been pursuing politics depending on police power as if police are not for all of us, particularly the opposition. Police are for maintaining law and order and not for creating law and order situation with private bahini of thugs of the government under police protection.
Such police activities are creating a desperate situation to oppose government for the wrongs of looting public money and bringing economic disaster for the people through incompetence and corruption. The government has no control over the market or anywhere else without using police force. The people are getting restless.
The violent incident could have been avoided by not challenging the opposition to break the police restrictions on holding meetings and processions. In a democracy, the police are informed of any public gatherings for securing police protection so that peace and order is not disturbed. But police cannot be used for violating the Constitution.
