Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday told Dhaka-based diplomats that the BNP did not change its violent traits as the government briefed them on the opposition party’s October 28 clash with police and subsequent hartal.
Heads of the diplomatic missions including the United States, which is vocal about holding “free and fair” elections, UN agencies, and international organizations attended the briefing. But they remained tight-lipped during and after the briefing at the state guesthouse Jamuna.
The foreign minister was flanked by Law Minister Anisul Huq, Prime Minister's Advisor Salman F Rahman, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, and Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman.
“We are shocked at what unfolded on the 28th of October and yesterday. We are not, however, surprised as we experienced BNP-Jamaat’s dreadful violence in the past. My only regret is that they have not changed much,” the foreign minister told the diplomats in a written statement which was also circulated among the attending diplomats, and later to the media.
BNP called the grand rally on Saturday as part of its movement to topple the government before the general elections to be held in January. Awami League held a peace and development rally on the day. Both the parties got police permission on 20 conditions.
The BNP activists engaged in violence with police during the rally at the Kakrail square, which is close to the party’s Nayapaltan headquarter. They attacked the official residence of the Chief Justice, and set fire to a police box. They also attacked the Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital, and set fire on ambulances.
One police constable Amirul Islam Parvez was killed while, according to the home ministry, 115 other police personnel were injured. A Jubo Dal leader Shameem Mollah was also killed during the clash with police that forced the party to abruptly end the rally.
Following that, BNP called nationwide hartal on Sunday. During the hartal, many vehicles were torched. One bus driver’s assistant was burned alive.
According to the Directorate of Fire Service, between 1pm and 6pm of Saturday, 45 incidents of fire took place across Bangladesh. Of them, 37 were related to torching of vehicles. Besides, the police box, fire service office, bus counter and political party’s offices were the targets.
The BNP and Jamaat boycotted the 10th parliamentary elections held on January 5 in 2014. In 2015, they were barred while trying to observe January 5 as “Democracy Killing Day”. Following that, the party enforced continuous blockade.
They enforced a three-month siege, but the party failed to topple the government. In 2018, BNP joined the election, but secured only seven seats in the parliament. They called the elections widely rigged and demanded a non-partisan government for the election oversight.
As they continued to press for the demand, hartal returned to Bangladesh after three years and eight months, as BNP last enforced a strike on February 2, 2020.
After Sunday's hartal, the party has called a total blockade across the country for three days starting from today, Tuesday. And these programs are bringing back the memories of 2015.
Highlighting the concern that has been created in the public mind, Foreign Minister Momen told diplomats: “From BNP, we can only expect more and more assault on the lives and properties of innocent civilians.
“I believe that you have noticed the stark similarities between the scenario of 2013-14-15 and now. You may also have observed that this time their target is more on the police and judiciary,” he said. Journalists were also their target.
Citing the statistics of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said strikes and blockades by BNP cost the country a total of Tk1,600 crore (or $192.3 million) or 0.2% of GDP per day.
Western countries, particularly the US, have been raising concerns over the political developments in Bangladesh. The US announced that it would restrict visas to those who would stand in the way of holding free and fair elections, a move widely hailed by the opposition parties.
International Affairs Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher met the US Embassy’s first Political Secretary Matthew Bey two days before the October 28 program in which Jamaat also organized a separate rally despite having no permission.
Ambassador Peter Haas met Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan at the latter’s office in the Secretariat on Sunday. After the meeting, the home minister said the ambassador discussed the rally issue and asked whether the government would close the roads for the rally.
The minister also asked the journalists whether the ambassador was right in asking such a question. The embassy, however, refuted the claim and said the subject of road closures did not come up during the meeting.
Ambassador Haas had "expressed the importance of peaceful demonstrations and interference-free participation in the political process," a spokesperson for the embassy said in a statement later.
Peter Haas sat in the last row during Monday’s briefing and left the venue as soon as it ended.
The foreign minister told diplomats: “BNP often played victim to misguide diplomatic missions and our foreign friends in order to gain sympathy. This time, all of a sudden, we saw a so-called “adviser” to the US President Joe Biden speaking to the press at the BNP party office flaked by senior BNP leaders.
Later, it was revealed that he is an imposter and he admitted that the BNP leaders instigated him to misguide people, he said, as police detained the Bangladeshi American Mian Jahidul Islam alias Arefy from the airport as he tried to escape Bangladesh. The US embassy sought consular access for him.
He emphasized that “every human life matters – our BNP friends understand that or not! We will keep showing utmost patience and restraint, and at the same time our law enforcement agencies should also do everything under their disposal within the legal parameters to provide safety and security to our citizens.”
He also reaffirmed the government’s “strong and unwavering stance to stick to the democratic process as mandated by the Constitution and hold free, fair and credible elections in time.”
Meanwhile, before the briefing, the missions representing Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States in a joint statement expressed deep concern about the violence and appealed to all stakeholders to exercise "restraint, avoid violence, and collaborate" and work together to establish the necessary conditions for a free, fair, participatory and peaceful election in Bangladesh.
State Minister Shahriar Alam said after the briefing: “None of them asked any questions. Their expression says they were stunned. They listened to us. We also gave them a written statement.”
He, however, said they have reminded the diplomats to remain "consistent" in their statement, as the embassies have been asking for a free and fair election. But in the seven embassies' latest statement they called all parties to work together for a participatory election.
"We still consider this (political developments) as an internal affair. Issuing statements on internal affairs is not norms. But some (embassies) made it a norm," the state minister said.
