BNP today urged the government to engage army for smooth distribution of relief materials coming from different countries for the Rohingya refugees who have taken shelter in Cox’s Bazar following persecution in Myanmar.

“We saw mismanagement in distributing relief materials among the Rohingyas. Army engagement for smooth relief work is needed,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

Earlier, a BNP team led by its standing committee member Mira Abbas went to Cox’s Bazar with relief materials to distribute those among the Rohingyas but was barred on disciplinary grounds.

Fakhrul said a horrific situation is prevailing in the area and the local management has collapsed in dealing with the relief materials.      

Claiming that the Rohinga issue is a big challenge for the government, the BNP leader said, “It is now very urgent for the government to engage all people in facing the Rohingya crisis through holding an immediate talk with all political parties and organisations.”

He said BNP wants to extend its hands to the government to face the Rohingya crisis without indulging in dirty politics.

“Let’s go for a good solution to the Rohingya crisis by forging a national unity without indulging in politics of mud sending at each other,” Fakhrul said.

Rejecting Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday’s allegation that BNP is splitting the nation over the issue, he said, “We did not do this and don’t want this but eager to help the government in this regard.” 

One or more ambulances of Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital were torched on the hospital premises this afternoon.

Staffers of the hospital's emergency department confirmed the incident to The Daily Star.

The incident occurred when the areas surrounding the capital's Nayapaltan turned into a battlefield as BNP men were waging a pitched battle with police for more than two hours.

DMP's media cell in messages to media at 3:39pm claimed that BNP-Jamaat set fire to Rajarbagh Police Hospital.

It also said 22 injured police personnel were undergoing treatment at the hospital, while 19 others at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Downtown Dhaka turned into a battlefield yesterday as BNP activists and police clashed, leading to the death of a policeman and a ward-level BNP leader.

Many others were injured.

The opposition party has called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal today, in response to the police action that forced BNP to abruptly end its Nayapaltan grand rally.

Separately, Jamaat-e-Islami has also called for a nationwide daylong strike in protest of police action and arrests of its leaders and activists from itsrally in Arambagh.

The ruling Awami League vowed to resist the hartal at any cost. It will also hold "peace rallies" across the country today.

The developments raise the spectre of violence in the lead-up to the national election slated for January.

Although the BNP programme was peaceful in the beginning, tension flared up as the day wore on.

At least 10 vehicles and a police box were torched while over a dozen vehicles were vandalised during the clashes that took place in Kakrail, Nayapaltan, Bijoynagar, Malibagh, Arambagh areas and near Matsya Bhaban.

Vehicles burn inside the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh in Kakrail. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Dozens of people, including law enforcers, BNP activists and journalists, were hurt in pitched battles.

The streets in those areas were strewn with brick chips and the air was thick with smoke as law enforcers lobbed hundreds teargas shells, threw sound grenades and used firearms to disperse the BNP leaders and activists who had gathered at Nayapaltan and adjacent areas since morning.

Later at the night, three more vehicles were torched by arsonists in the Kalshi area of Dhaka city, Hemayetpur in Savar, and Konabari in Gazipur, police said.

Tension had been high over the last few days centring on the high-stake BNP and AL rallies within a radius of two kilometres.

The BNP organised its rally, joined by tens of thousands of its activists from Dhaka and elsewhere, in front of its headquarters to press home its demand for elections under a non-partisan interim government. The AL held its "peace and development rally" at Baitul Mukarram south gate to counter BNP's.

HOW THE CLASH SPREAD

Since morning, BNP leaders and activists started thronging the rally venue indroves, chanting anti-government slogans. By 11:00am, the entire road stretching from Kakrail intersection to Notre Dame college in Arambagh was packed by party activists and supporters.

Things started to heat up around 11:30am when the ruling party activists on two pickups and a bus were stopped by BNP activists near Kakrail mosque. The AL men were heading towards the Baitul Mukarram mosque to attend their rally, police and witnesses said.

The BNP activists vandalised the pickups and the bus, and a clash ensued. Police present at the spot detained one man involved in vandalism, they said.

Following the clash, more BNP activists rushed to the spot and were seen intercepting pedestrians. Around 12:30pm, they started chanting slogans denouncing police and hurling brick chunks at them, according to our correspondents present at the scene.

A police officer lies motionless, on a street in Bijoynagar area after he was attacked during the clash. Photo: courtesy of Azmal Hoq Helal

Another clash broke out between BNP activists and law enforcers in front of Kakrail mosque around 1:00pm. The law enforcers threw sound grenades and tear shells to disperse them, our correspondents report.

The demonstrators responded by throwing brick chips, and charged the law enforcers with sticks, prompting a chase and counter-chase.

The protesters assaulted several journalists and police members there. A police box near Kakrail Church was torched, while another in front of Kakrail mosque was vandalised. A minibus and a microbus were torched in front of the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh.

The clash between the BNP activists and police later spread to Nightingale area. Chased by police, the demonstrators broke into two groups -- one going towards Nayapaltan and the other towards Shantinagar.

Border Guard Bangladesh members were deployed to defuse tension in the area.

BNP RALLY FOILED

Around 3:00pm, police approached the BNP headquarters at Nayapaltan from two sides -- Fakirapool and Nightingale intersections. They opened blank fire and hurled sound grenades as they reached near the rally venue. The BNP activists lobbed brickbats in retaliation, witnesses said.

Amid police action, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the hartal with a hand mike.

"The Awami League activists and police are out to foil our peaceful rally by firing gunshots and throwing sound grenades. We call upon the people to rise," he said.

Senior BNP leaders, including Mirza Fakhrul, reached the rally venue around 12:00pm.

Everything was going on smoothly till 1:30pm when sounds of flash grenades, coming from Nightingale intersection, got louder with the area enveloping in black smoke.

"Don't be afraid of the sound. This sound is the sound of victory and freedom," Abdus Salam, convenor of Dhaka South City unit BNP, told the agitated party leaders and activists.

But things got out of control after teargas canisters and sound grenades were used, forcing BNP to leave the venue.

Aminul Parvez

'POLICE DID THEIR JOB'

In the evening, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said BNP supporters showered brickbats on police, burnt cars and buses, killed a cop and then called for a hartal.

"We want to assure you that if anyone blocks roads, vandalises and sets fire to vehicles, we will take action. Everything will go on normally," he told reporters after visiting the injured police personnel at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

"A policeman was hacked to death. We have pictures. A Chhatra Dal leader brutally beat him up. He was not only beaten but attacked with a machete," he said.

He added the BNP activists attacked an Awami League procession and set fire to the pickups carrying the leaders and activists of the AL.

"They broke the gate and entered the Chief Justice's house. In such a situation, police cannot remain silent. Police did their job and dispersed them," the minister said, adding that BNP activists also set fire to Rajarbagh police hospital and an ambulance.

"Our police force dealt with them with great patience…. They [BNP] are trying to create a situation similar to 2014," he added.

At a press briefing later in the night, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman also warned of legal actions against violence and vandalism in the name of today's hartal.

"We will take legal action by applying maximum force if anyone tries to harm people's lives or properties in the name of hartal," he told reporters at the DMP Media Center around 10:45pm.

THE DEADS AND ARRESTS

Shamim Mia, from Mugda in the capital, succumbed to his injuries sustained during clashes in Nayapaltan area in the afternoon.

BNP claimed he was a ward-level leader of Jubo Dal, although his family could not confirm his political affiliation.

He was taken to the Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital in a critical condition, where doctors declared him dead.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Rezaul Haider, director of the hospital, said there was no sign of injury on his body.

He is believed to have died of a heart attack, added Rezaul.

Earlier, Aminul Parvez, a constable of DMP's CTTC unit, died of injuries he sustained during a clash in Fakirapool, the DMP media cell told The Daily Star.

Meanwhile, BNP in a statement last night claimed over 1,000 of its activists were injured and bullet-hit. More than 300 were detained by the police yesterday.

Politics in Bangladesh is at a crossroads right now. Following the violence that started unfolding at BNP's rally on October 28, the government has so far arrested over 2,000 BNP activists under 89 cases filed with 32 police stations under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other top leaders. Over 9,000 activists have been arrested countrywide since the rally, and law enforcement agencies will reportedly intensify their clampdown even more in the days to come. Given the circumstances, The Daily Star asked civil society members about their views on the mass arrest and their implications for a free, fair and acceptable general election in January 2024.

Sultana Kamal

The situation that has arisen since October 28 poses a threat to the human rights of civilians as a whole. Indiscriminate arrests undoubtedly provoke fear among the general population. The public becomes panicked when such incidents increase, as they fear they could also be arrested. This affects people's inner peace, their sense of security, and undermines their sense of safety, which goes against human rights.

The law enforcement agencies may argue that they are acting under the Special Powers Act (referred to as the kala kanun), but are they following the law properly? An important requirement in the law is that detainees must be brought before the courts within 24 hours. Are the thousands of individuals that have been arrested being presented before the court within 24 hours?

Many detained persons are being apprehended based on assumptions and are being left outside of judicial procedure. If the law enforcement officials follow the Special Powers Act accordingly, the detainees must go through the judicial proceedings, and if the accusation is proven, they will receive punishments; if not, they should be released. However, this is not happening. In that case, we can say they are being detained arbitrarily and discriminatorily.

Read more

Are the ‘ghost’ cases fooling anyone?

Arresting thousands of people based on assumptions interferes with their freedom of movement and right to life. There is a matter to consider: what are the criteria for arresting these people? The October 28 incidents may have been carried out by a few hundred people, but the reason behind the number of arrests exceeding thousands remains a question.

When we ask the police about any case of domestic violence, rape, harassment and murder, it is often observed that they claim to not find any charges against the supposed perpetrators. Now, my question is: if the law enforcement agencies are making a list of "troublemakers," based on whose allegations and based on what are they doing so?

If someone is being detained for specific crimes such as theft or robbery, that can be comprehensible. But such measures seem to be absent here. Since there are no clear criteria, they can assume anyone is a troublemaker. How can I be sure they would not consider me a troublemaker?

On top of that, if they decide to target a specific political party, that is also an injustice. In a democratic country, anyone can be a member of any political party, so why would they be assumed to be troublemakers without any concrete reason?

Sultana Kamal
Eminent human rights activist

The law enforcement agencies may argue that they are acting under the Special Powers Act, but are they following the law properly? An important requirement in the law is that detainees must be brought before the courts within 24 hours. Are the thousands of individuals that have been arrested being presented before the court within 24 hours?

Asif Nazrul

Bangladesh does not have any credible mechanism to gauge public opinion. Election is not genuine, surveys are not efficient, media is not free and the constitutional provision of referendum is no longer there. Nevertheless, it may be safely argued that the incidents of October 28 have made the people of Bangladesh doubtful about the scope of exercising their voting rights in the forthcoming general election.

As the history and political culture of this country testify, people in this country love their voting rights and aspire to see their representation in the government. This spirit motivated them to engage in the Liberation War in 1971 and later turn in large numbers at the polling booths in elections whenever conducted under a trustworthy government. This explains why an increasing number of people participated in the opposition's movement for a free and fair election in recent months.

Read more

Column by Mahfuz Anam: Towards a 'free and fair' election, indeed

The prospect of such an election is hazy now. The speed at which police have filed numerous cases against BNP leaders and activists for the mayhems of October 28, the scale at which they have been arrested, and the uniformity with which they are being denied bail send an unambiguous message. The ruling party is determined to capitalise on its own narratives of October 28 events to muzzle the opposition, and thus to arrange an election according to its design.

Given the memory of the past two elections in 2014 and 2018, it would surely frustrate the democracy-loving people. The opposition party has resorted to hartals and blockades, while the government is rejecting any prospect of negotiation; this deadlock is causing harm to the country's struggling economy.

In the past, civil society and other powerful groups, both domestic and international, could have played a role to end the impasse. People must be thinking where the solution would come from this time, and how.

Overall, this is a time of despair, at least for the people who suffer most when democracy dies, monopoly in every sector prevails, and corruption multiplies in the absence of accountability and balance of power.

Dr Asif Nazrul
Professor of law and researcher on constitutional and environmental laws

Read more

Spare the economy more shocks

Sharmeen S Murshid

The large-scale arrest of opposition party members has grave implications for our democracy. It makes the opposition leaderless and drives its members underground, making it impossible for them to stay afloat and prepare for the upcoming election. The opposition is on fear mode and this drives them out of the playing field, and leaves the electorate without a right to choose. We are witnessing harsh suppression of the opposition at a moment when all political parties should have been holding colourful electoral campaigns in a safe and healthy electoral environment. Picking up leaders from their homes in the dead of night is unlawful and does nothing for our democracy. The silence of the Election Commission is foreboding. The ruling party is walking the wrong road.

Every day, we read of violence perpetrated by ruling party activists. We see no arrests, no investigations and, even in the face of hard-hitting facts, no actions taken. This one-eyed governance of the ruling party is fast losing credibility. So much so that even if we were to believe what it is doing is right, it is failing to deliver that message to the people and the public remain unconvinced. Trust has eroded.

The recent by-elections were an opportunity to build trust and prove that elections under an elected government can be free and fair. The opportunity was totally lost to mindless corruption and rigging. The people are rightfully asking: how can this EC under the present government hold a credible election in 300 seats?

With no real opposition in the field, with high voltage intolerance and fear raging across the political scene along with the proven incompetencies to conduct a fair election, the stage set for the upcoming election is out of whack.

The road the government has chosen is a dead end. It is suicidal for both the ruling party and the country. I cannot help asking, in such a reality: why are we holding an election at all?

Sharmeen S Murshid
Election analyst and CEO of Brotee

If you look at media reports of the last few days, people of the ruling party are mentioned as being present at the scene or found instigating the violence. Why are no arrests being made in this regard? If the authorities were impartial in regard to such arrests, then such questions wouldn't have been raised.

Mujahidul Islam Selim

The government's act of arresting opposition leaders and activists right before the election just shows its own weakness. It is doing so to prevent a free and fair election, which most definitely would not go in its favour.

The government's narrative—that the arrests are being made due to criminal acts—cannot be accepted. Recently, one of our ministers insinuated that syndicates cannot be touched. The authorities are not arresting the hoarders; they are not arresting the garment owners responsible for the recent chaos. Instead, they are opening fire on the workers, who are demanding for their due right. The government is doing all this to prevent a surefire defeat in the election.

Notably, the high-ups are allowing the communal force Jamaat to hold demonstrations. This just proves that the government has no ethical obligations to meet, like upholding non-communalism. It only has one goal in mind: staying in power.

Mujahidul Islam Selim
Former president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh

Read more

Our Election Commission's critical failings

M Sakhawat Hussain

Arbitrarily detaining individuals without justification, especially as a means to target members of a particular political party, will unquestionably have a profound impact on the public. When people are persistently kept in a state of uncertainty or harbour mistrust towards one another, it can lead to potential harassment in the future. This issue also highlights critical human rights concerns.

The situation demands immediate attention from both the law enforcement officials and those responsible for overseeing their actions. Failing to address and rectify this issue promptly could lead to further escalation of the situation, triggering extensive criticism internationally.

The prevalent practice of apprehending individuals who have no direct involvement in the alleged offences or detaining them on the basis of mere suspicion, along with filing anonymous cases, is a recurring problem in our country. Given the public perception of law enforcement, it is imperative that our state security forces act more judiciously and engage more effectively with the general public during these crucial times. Before taking someone into custody, a comprehensive investigation and a rigorous process should be applied.

Brig Gen (retd) Dr M Sakhawat Hussain
Former election commissioner of Bangladesh, and senior fellow at the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) of North South University (NSU)

Read more

BNP's options after the Oct 28 rally

Meenakshi Ganguly

We are extremely concerned that the Bangladesh government appears to be walking away from its international pledges to hold a free, fair and participatory election this time. Bangladeshis have repeatedly been denied the right to choose their leaders in the last few elections—including to municipal, local government, and other posts—and this can lead to increasing unrest and risk of violence. Security forces also appear to be acting in a biased manner, targeting the political opposition but failing to act against abuses by ruling party supporters.

Thousands of opposition leaders and supporters are in custody on trumped-up charges, and there are concerning allegations of unlawful arrests and torture in custody. These are not hallmarks of a government that is committed to upholding democracy.

Meenakshi Ganguly
Deputy director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.

BNP has postponed its rally scheduled for April 26 due to the ongoing heatwave.

The party announced the postponement of the rally in a statement today.

The rally was supposed to be held in front of the party's central office in Dhaka's Nayapaltan.

BNP Dhaka Metropolitan South Unit's office secretary Saidur Rahman said a new date for the rally will be announced later.