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Published : 17 Jul 2025, 07:00 PM
Local Government Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain has praised the law-enforcing agencies for what he called a “good job” during the violence surrounding the Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP) rally in Gopalganj.
According to him, the law enforcers handled the situation responsibly and “succeeded” in evacuating everyone from the danger zone.
Asif added that the attackers, who instigated violence with weapons in hand, must be identified and brought to justice under the leadership of the home ministry.
He was speaking at a workshop hosted by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on Thursday.
Violence erupted in Gopalganj on Wednesday when banned Awami League (AL) activists launched attacks during an NCP rally, leading to repeated clashes with law enforcers and turning the town into a battleground.
At least four people were killed in the five-hour-long conflict.
Senior NCP leaders who were trapped inside the superintendent of police’s office later exited the area in armoured Army vehicles.
NCP Convenor Nahid Islam said the situation could have been less severe if the administration and intelligence agencies had taken “the right steps at the right time”.
Asif described the incident as “shameful” and said armed groups from outside Gopalganj had assembled in the district to instigate the violence.
“We never expect something like this,” he said. “Bangladeshis are peace-loving people and we want all political activity to proceed peacefully.”
Photos shared from a police control room were posted to Asif’s verified Facebook page on Wednesday night.
The post said he, the home advisor, and law-enforcing agencies’ chiefs were issuing instructions in real time to manage the crisis.
Asked how many arrests had been made, Asif said: “That’s something the home ministry is handling. You’ll get detailed answers from them.”
The NCP gave authorities a 24-hour deadline to arrest the attackers.
When asked about this demand, Asif said: “You should direct that to the relevant ministry. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to respond.”
In response to public comments on social media suggesting the violence could have been avoided had the NCP not gone to Gopalganj, he said: “That’s not my concern. You should ask the NCP about that.”
CALL TO TAKE DOWN AL PAGES
Though the Awami League and its affiliated organisations remain banned, several of their social media pages continue to be active.
Asked whether the government would take any action against them, Faiz Ahmad Taiyab, special assistant on ICT affairs to the chief advisor, said platform liability remains a legal grey area in Bangladesh.
He noted the absence of a personal data protection law limits the government’s ability to enforce takedowns directly.
“We’ve informed [Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission], which in turn has contacted the platforms. Now we are relying on their cooperation.”
Faiz explained that under current law, platforms like Meta and Google are not legally bound to comply with takedown requests from the Bangladesh government.
When asked whether any specific pages had been reported, he said: “We haven’t flagged any individual page. But the government has already declared these organisations as terrorist groups, and we’ve informed the platforms accordingly.
“Now we’re waiting for their response,” he added.
