Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), declared on Sunday that the current Awami League government had completely damaged the nation’s educational system.
He said this while speaking at an iftar gathering at a downtown hotel that the Peoples Party and the Gonoforum were co-hosting.
There has been a shift in the number of general students attending Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). However, the Chhatra League has forcibly infiltrated the campus. Bangladesh is experiencing hardship. The skyrocketing costs of necessities are putting the common people in serious danger, Mr. Fakhrul stated.
“People find hardly any practice of good governance in the country,” he stated.
“We shall be jeopardizing the nation’s independence and democracy if we don’t restore those. Therefore, in order to secure our rights, we must be free of party allegiance,” he said.
He claimed that following the election on January 7, 2024, the government had become more ruthless and hostile.
He continued by saying that the country’s citizens are currently being persecuted and mistreated by the ruling party, making it impossible for anyone to dare to voice dissent against the establishment.
He stated, “Rule of law and good governance have been sent to exile perpetually.”
“Deadly anarchy has taken hold of the entire nation. A single person’s will governs the entire nation. In order to establish a one-party BAKSAL dictatorship throughout the nation, a sense of fear and terror is being pushed throughout the public’s consciousness from urban to rural areas, he claimed.
He continued, “Depriving party leader Habib-Un-Nabi Khan Sohel of bail and subsequently sending him to jail is another example of the ruling party’s oppression of the opposition.”
“I express deep concern over continued detention of opposition leaders by denying bail to them with the help of the state machinery,” he stated.
Mr. Fakhrul requested that the bogus accusations brought against Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel be dropped, and that he be released immediately and unconditionally.
“The ruling Awami League has become more desperate and cruel after assuming power through dummy election held on January 7, 2024,” he stated.
He accused the governing AL of torturing and oppressing members of the opposition parties, especially BNP leaders and activists, in order to maintain its hold on power.
“They (the government) arbitrarily detained activists and leaders of the opposition. By detaining members of the opposition parties, including BNP leaders and activists, and bringing bogus accusations against them, the AL has transformed the nation into their zamindari (feudal estate),” he claimed.
In the meantime, senior joint secretary general of the BNP Ruhul Kabir Rizvi paid a visit to the home of Habibur Rahman Habib, the party chairperson’s jailed adviser and convener of the BNP’s Pabna district unit, which is located in the Shyamoli neighborhood of the city.
Mr. Rizvi wanted to know how Habib’s family members were doing.
Before the approaching Eid-ul-Fitr, he urged the immediate release of all party leaders and activists who were detained, including Habibur Rahman Habib.
Among those in attendance were Rafiqul Islam, the party’s health affairs secretary, and Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, special assistant to the BNP chairman.