Country’s human rights situation was never such dreadful: Fakhrul
The BNP today alleged that the country’s human rights situation was never in such a “dreadful” state in its history.
Presenting statistics, the party said cases were filed against 35 lakh people in last 10 years and a total of 1,04,814 cases were filed against political opponents.
“From 2009 to 2019, a total of 1,526 opposition leaders and activists were killed by the government agencies and the ruling party men. A total of 423 BNP men disappeared while 781 as a whole,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party, said.
BNP organised a seminar in a city hotel to mark “International Human Rights Day” where Fakhrul along with other party leaders unveiled a book named 'Absence of Democracy and Systematic Human Rights violations by State Apparatus'.
The book is a compilation of incidents of “human rights violation” which took place in the country between January 2009 to October 2019.
BNP leader Shakhawat Hossain Sayantha placed a presentation on the book at the programme.
Fakhrul said that it is a matter of great sorrow that even after 49 years of Independence, people are being victims of extrajudicial killing and forced disappearance. “Such a suffocating situation is prevailing in the country that people are not getting their rights.”
He alleged that the government has created a “development myth” to fool people. “Only development cannot resolve people’s sufferings. If there is no democracy, no development can be sustainable,” he added.
The BNP leader urged the people from all walks of life to get united burying all sorts of divisions and differences of opinions to restore democracy in the country.
Party’s Standing Committee Member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said as the government is not accountable to anyone, they are not caring about the human rights condition of the country.
“Absence of democracy is the main problem. It is the root cause of all the problems. So, democracy must be restored to get rid of this situation.”
He also said all the autocratic regimes created a fear of state to stay in office and the incumbent government is not exceptional. “People’s ownership should be handed over to the people to end the situation.”
The floor was open for the discussants where former Dhaka university teacher Mahbub Ullah, Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury and others also spoke in the seminar.
Representatives and delegates from United States, United Kingdom, Russia, India, European Union and other countries participated in the seminar.
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