Awami League has created a state of fear, says BNP’s Mirza Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir claims that the ruling Awami League has created a ‘state of fear’ in the country since the election.

He made the remarks to reporters on Saturday on his way to visit the victim of a gang-rape on election day in Noakhali and her family.

Mirza Fakhrul and other leaders from the Jatiya Oikya Front left the BNP Chairperson’s Office in Gulshan at 7:30 am on Saturday morning on their way to Noakhali.

They made a rest stop at a restaurant in Cumilla along the way.

“The ruling party has created a state of terror, fear and anarchy throughout the country due to the violence before the election, the violence on election day and the violence afterwards. We have watched as one of our sisters was raped in Noakhali.”

“We condemn this incident and all the incidents of violence across the country. We call upon the people to stand against this violence.”

The BNP secretary general also called upon the Election Commission to take action against the violence after the election.

“The national parliamentary election and the people’s right to vote have once again been snatched away by state terror.”

“Through this the Bangladesh Awami League and the nation’s administration have become an enemy of the people.”

Fakhrul is accompanied by former BNP Noakhali MP and party Vice Chairman Md Shajahan, JSD President ASM Abdur Rab, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique and other leaders from the alliance.

According to BNP leaders, the Oikya Front leaders will ask after the condition of the victim, who is undergoing treatment at Noakhali General Hospital and meet with local lawyers to discuss the situation before returning to Dhaka.

On the night of Dec 30, the day of the 11th national parliamentary election, a woman was beaten and gang-raped and her husband and daughter were tied up after she had gone to vote.

The woman alleged that she argued with Awami League supporters when she went to vote and they attacked her because of it.

Amid nationwide outrage a Human Rights Commission team and a Chattogram Police Range DIG went to Noakhali to speak with the victim.

So far police have arrested seven people in connection with the incident, including a local Awami League leader. Four of them are accused in a case filed by the woman.

Jatiya Oikya Front chief Kamal Hossain said in a statement on Friday the “mediaeval-style barbaric incident” is “hard to imagine in any democracy” and that it had “degraded the nation”