Condemning the communal violence in Panchagarh centring on a religious event of the Ahmadiyya, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Monday said that the BNP was behind the incident with evil motives.
A Shibir leader and a member of the Ahmadiyya community were killed in the attack. Some 81 people including BNP leader Fazle Rabbi were arrested in this incident, the home minister said after a meeting at the Home Ministry's conference room at the Secretariat on Monday.
Fazle Rabbi confessed that he led the incident and tried to stop the program, the minister added.
“There are thousands of Ahmadiyya communities in Panchagarh's Ahmednagar area. They hold a religious ritual that lasts two days every year. Jamaat activists and BNP leaders banded together and set the houses on fire to stop this year's religious ceremony,” the minister further said.
They also set fire to the place where the ceremony was supposed to be held, he added.
The minister replied while informed that BNP claimed the govt is behind the communal violence: "Ask the common people whether BNP was responsible for this incident or not. Awami League has never committed a crime like this. In 2014, they burnt innocent people, cars, and even vehicles loaded with animals. Many such events have taken place by the BNP.”
Awami League is people's party. Awami League never goes against the people. Those who have caused such incidents are now spreading hate and confusion, he added.