‘Menacing force’ within government is behind the crackdown on dissent, says Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir says a 'menacing force' within the government is responsible for the persecution of any dissenting voices.

His remarks came amid growing calls from leftist student organisations for the repeal of the Digital Security Act following the arrest and subsequent death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed in jail in a case under the act.

The senior BNP leader said Mushtaq was imprisoned ‘simply because of writing something’ while cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore was in jail ‘just because of drawing cartoons’.

“If you open up today’s newspaper you’ll see that according to a statement Kishore gave after getting out of jail, inhuman torture is being carried out by a group within the government to erase... whoever is opposing the government,” Fakhrul said in a meeting on Saturday.

“These are only two… the newspaper says about the numerous people, children, elderly who have been picked up and put in jail.”

Commenting that the Awami League government relies entirely on ‘grouping’, Fakhrul said, “They are destroying the whole nation with their power, pride, arrogance and to create a circle of corruption.”

“Such tyrants have come in power repeatedly in this country. Whenever bandits, burglars, the British from the West arrived to take over, the young people of the country took a stand against them and took up arms to remove them if necessary.”

“In 1971, the young people took up arms to expel the Pakistani army. We have to get on our feet keeping that into our minds.”

Fakhrul called on the young people to 'come forward’. “Let us unite and defeat this horrible fascist monster.”

The meeting was organised at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium by Bangladesh Chhatra Forum and Uttar Chhatra Forum to mark the 14 anniversary of the jailing of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman.