A Dhaka court has issued summons against three BNP leaders, including its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, asking him to appear before it on July 14 in a case filed on charge of instigating students for creating anarchy during movement for road safety in 2018.

Two others are BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed and its standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashek Imam on June 12 passed the order after accepting the probe report submitted by an inspector of Tejgaon Police Station.

On August 6, 2018, AB Siddique, president of Jananetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League organisation, filed the case against them with the Court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate HM Toaha.

During that movement on August 4, a reported audio clip of a telephonic conversation between Amir Khasru and an unknown person over intensifying the ongoing student movement went viral on Facebook and YouTube.

After an investigation, Mohammad Sentu Miah, an inspector of Tejgaon Police Station and also the investigation officer of the case, on February 6 of 2019 submitted the probe report.

In the probe report, the IO said that the charges brought against the three leaders were primarily proved and they should be brought under trial for their alleged involvement with instigating students for creating anarchy during road safety.

The students took to the streets after Dia Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College, were killed as a Jabal-e-Noor bus ploughed through a crowd while competing with another bus of the same company on Airport Road on July 29 of 2018.

On December 1 of 2019, another Dhaka court sentenced two drivers Masum Billah and Jubayer Sumon and helper Asad Kazi of Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan to life imprisonment in a case filed over deaths of the students.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller today said they hoped that the elections to Dhaka city corporations will be credible, peaceful and festive.

“The hope of United States that the elections are peaceful, festive and credible. We also hope that the elections will be participatory,” Earl R Miller told reporters after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda at the Election Commission this noon.

He said that the US, along with other members of diplomatic corps, will have election observers during the elections to the Dhaka North and South city corporations slated for February 1.

Millar also said he came to the commission to see the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and to learn a bit more about the machines.

Voter turn out is more in Bangladesh than in the US, he said.

Millar called upon the voters to go out and vote for the candidate they choose to on the election day.

“My message to all voters in Bangladesh and certainly in my country as we look at our election coming at the end of this year, participate in the process, which is sometimes imperfect, noisy, messy but a vitally important process,” he added.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today claimed that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) prepared BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s medical report last night, but they could not submit it before the court under pressure from the government.

“According to an unofficial source, the medical report of Khaleda was prepared by the BSMMU last night. But it (the process) was halted under the direct pressure from the government,” Mirza Fakhrul alleged at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan office today.

The entire nation was disappointed after the court rejected the lawyers’ plea for hearing Khaleda’s appeal today and later deferred the date of hearing, he also said.

“We were observing with utter surprise and concern that BNP chairperson was denied facilities at the prison cell from the very beginning of the case,” he alleged.

Terming the rejection of Khaleda’s bail as inhumane and against the existing law, Fakhrul said, “In such case, the bail is supposed to be granted within seven days. But it was not happened in the context of Khaleda rather her bail appeal has been obstructed in every steps.”

About Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s comment against Khaleda, Fakhrul said the premier is interfering in the judiciary.

The prime minister yesterday came down heavily on BNP chief Khaleda and termed her the “godmother of terrorism” in the country.

With that remark, the PM and her government showed fear to BSMMU authorities as they (government) do not want bail of Khaleda.

“Release of Khaleda is not a matter of kindness rather it is her legal right. Everything is planned to keep her away from politics which is completely illegal,” he further claimed.

The BNP leader said there is a death risk of Khaleda, if she was not treated properly and the government will be responsible for not treating her.

Hearing the ruling party's general secretary say that the BNP's October 28 rally in the capital would face a similar reaction as did the one on December 10 last year, we can now gauge what the intention of the government is. Perhaps, many of us have already started adjusting our diaries, out of fear of violence or to avoid harassment in the name of heightened security. The possibility of another unannounced shutdown (better to be called a hartal enforced by the supporters of the ruling party) may also encourage them to leave Dhaka simply to avoid any additional suffering.

The warning given to BNP by Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader for its expressed intent is undoubtedly worrying and deplorable. On the other hand, it is also an admission that the government did crack down on the opposition on December 7, 2022, for which they had so far put the blame on BNP's alleged subversive activities.

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Do Bangladeshis want democracy?

Many questions still remain unanswered as to why the government was so desperate to deter BNP from holding a mass rally in front of the latter's central office, to the extent that police had to storm the party office in Nayapaltan, clear the whole area, and term it a no-go zone for about a week. Can anyone forget that a simple dispute over a venue had caused so much trouble not even a year ago?

There's little doubt that the government's refusal to participate in open talks with the opposition – and find a way of holding a credible election according to international standards – is prolonging BNP's agitation. To make things worse, the ruling party's counter programmes, aimed at keeping a hold on the streets, have already caused trouble across the country as AL members have interpreted this as a directive to deny the opposition any space for holding protests.

In the end, the authorities did allow BNP to hold its grand rally on the day, only a few kilometres away. But in the meantime, one person had to die, tens of people were injured, and a couple of the opposition's top leaders were imprisoned. It was then reported that police had fired at least 1,780 rounds of rubber bullets, tear gas canisters, and sound grenades during the clash. Instead of a supposedly day-long disruption to normal city life, it became such a prolonged nightmare for citizens that the restriction of their movement did not stop at random frisking/checking of people and vehicles, but also infringed their rights to privacy by way of law enforcers going through the contents of citizens' personal mobile phones.

The violent suppression of the opposition's protest also alarmed the international community. Expressing concerns over reports of intimidation, political violence, harassment by police, arrests of opposition party members, and restrictions on the ability of opposition parties to meet and hold peaceful rallies, the United States called for guaranteeing the right to peaceful assembly and refraining from using excessive force against protesters. The UN and a number of rights groups also joined voices in support of allowing peaceful protests.

Early indications, such as suing and detaining opposition activists on charges of alleged "subversion," suggest that the threat of the December 10 situation being repeated should not be taken lightly. Despite the fact that the nature of our politics is historically confrontational, the current round of protests spearheaded by BNP is reasonably peaceful. But the vocabulary used by leaders of the ruling party, and by Obaidul Quader in particular, seem to be aimed at fuelling anger and escalating tension. Human Rights Watch has already called it, saying "threats against opposition leaders undermine election integrity." Quader's earlier warnings include a threat of "pouring uranium" on the head of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and not allowing him to return to Dhaka.

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The legal case against Khaleda’s treatment abroad is far from convincing

Many observers have hoped that the ruling party will change its strategy and strive to improve the political climate ahead of the election, since the government has been seen trying to convince the international community that it will deliver a free and fair election. Despite this pledge, the international community is far from convinced due to the controversies surrounding the elections in 2014 and 2018. The current Election Commission, too, has admitted that it's been a victim of the fallout of those sham elections. Given this context, the US announced a visa policy regarding "individuals responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh."

There's little doubt that the government's refusal to participate in open talks with the opposition – and find a way of holding a credible election according to international standards – is prolonging BNP's agitation. To make things worse, the ruling party's counter programmes, aimed at keeping a hold on the streets, have already caused trouble across the country as AL members have interpreted this as a directive to deny the opposition any space for holding protests.

Read more

Why is the EU pulling out of observing our election?

It is quite perplexing why the government seems set to repeat the measures that led to horrifying consequences between December 7 and 11 in 2022. No one wants to see the SWAT being deployed in battle gear to tackle a political protest. If a political party wants to stage a sit-in protest, why should they be denied that right? Didn't the Awami League itself stage such protests many years ago, and in order to demand the introduction of a caretaker government system, no less?

In any case, resolving differences over election management, instead of suppressing protest, would also be in the best interests of the country's economy. The US visa policy, undeniably, has unnerved our business community the most as they can ill afford any penalty imposed on the economy, which has already been experiencing its devastating shocks.

Kamal Ahmed is an independent journalist. His X handle is @ahmedka1

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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