The central office of the BNP in the capital’s Nayapaltan, which remained deserted for many days, finally got back to life as normal yesterday, as leaders and activists were allowed to enter it after 47 days.
Around 11:30am, three office secretaries and a senior leader of Jubo Dal – BNP’s youth front – along with some 50 activists came to the office and unlocked the collapsible gate.
At 1:30pm, the party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who had been in hideout for months giving rise to widespread criticism, also entered the office. He was greeted with bouquets by the party leaders and activists present at the office when he entered.
Although the water cannon and police vehicles remained stationed in front of the office just like usual, no leader or activist was barred by police from entering the building.
After the arrest of some of the senior BNP leaders by October last year, Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi had been staying over in the office and briefing media regularly on the party’s day-to-day affairs.
However, on November 28, police raided the office at midnight and picked up Rizvi and executive committee member Belal Ahmed. After that, the office put on a haunted look as the other leaders kept on avoiding it fearing arrest or harassment.
Whenever leaders tried to enter the building, they were either barred or arrested. After October 17, the entrance to the building remained locked from the inside and law enforcers continuously guarded the area.
Abdul Latif Jony, assistant office secretary of BNP, told journalists yesterday that they had sent a letter to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police seeking permission to use loudspeakers during the January 20 rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan.
Fakhrul re-emerges
The High Court yesterday issued a directive for law enforcers to not harass or arrest Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of BNP, in connection with three cases until police filed reports against him.
Immediately after those cases were filed against him and some other BNP leaders in connection with blockade violence, Fakrhul went into hiding and intermittently kept on issuing statements about the then opposition’s stance regarding various issues.
Reportedly, Fakrul’s hiding gave rise to huge criticism from both outside and inside the party. On Wednesday, a group of aggrieved activists chanted slogans against Fakhrul in the presence of party Chief Khaleda Zia after her press conference.
Although Fakhrul was not present at the presser, the day before he reportedly held a four-hour meeting with the party chief at her Gulshan office. The details of that meeting, however, are still to be known.
Fakhrul, also the spokesperson of the BNP-led 18-party alliance, is facing three charges, including a police killing case. Of the charges, two were filed with the Ramna police station and one with the Shahbagh police station.
Finally, talking to reporters yesterday at the Nayapaltan office for the first time in months, he said it was the government’s duty to create a suitable environment for a dialogue. He also urged the government to free the detained leaders of the party.
“Our office was cordoned off for 47 days. In the name of drives by the joint forces, hundreds of leaders and activists were either killed or abducted. False cases were filed and thousands were thrown into jail. The government has turned the whole country into a jail. These sorts of activities are bad signals for democracy,” Fakrul said.
Regarding the new cabinet, Fakhrul said: “Only 5% vote was cast in the election. The media know very well what a drama was staged. In such a situation, there is no point in giving reactions about who became a minister and who did not.”
The last time he was seen in public was on November 1 when he attended a gayebana janaza at Nayapaltan and quickly left the area on a bike.
