Law State Minister Advocate Quamrul Islam said the tendency of the opposition activists, who were joining the Suhrawardi Udyan rally, seemed very “aggressive”, but he said the government would not tolerate any “atrocities”.
He said: “We do not want violence. But, we asked the law enforcing agency members to stay on alert to retaliate if they face attack.”
The junior law minister made the statement while talking to the journalists in front of the ruling party’s Bangabandhu Avenue office on Friday afternoon.
Top ruling party leaders have taken position in front of their party office since morning in order to prevent any untoward situations.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also instructed her party activists to remain alert against any potential “atrocities” and asked them to retaliate if they were faced with attacks. She feared that such activities would highly jeopardise the political stability of the country.
The AL chief asked her party activists to attend Jumma prayers today and stay prepared to lead a counter-attack if the opposition harmed any Awami League activists.
She made the comments at a meeting held with presidents and general secretaries of the party and its associate bodies at her office in the parliament last night, sources confirmed.
The prime minister assured the leaders of her party’s front organisations that her government and the law enforcement agencies would take every necessary step to foil any evil acts of the opposition.