Denouncing the killing of its councillor-elect in Saturday’s Sirajganj municipal polls, BNP on Sunday alleged that the Awami League has turned Bangladesh into a "death valley" as justice has disappeared from the country.
In a statement, party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “Violent terrorism is their (AL’s) apolitical ideology. That's why the opposition parties and their opinion are being suppressed in a bloody manner. Not only the political opponents, but also civil society members and intellectuals who speak the truth are being brutally tortured by the ruling party,” he said.
The BNP leader said, “Bangladesh is now the name of a sanctuary of terror acts like murder and extrajudicial killings. The present government has turned the country into a death valley. The killers are being encouraged as justice has disappeared from the country.”
Fakhrul issued the statement strongly protesting the killing of BNP-backed councillor-elect Tariqul Islam in Sirajganj municipality polls on Saturday by the supporters of Awami League-supported defeated candidate.
He alleged that the ruling party men carried out a brutal attack on Tariqul and killed him ruthlessly.
The BNP leader said the killing of a councillor-elect has exposed once again that the government wants to maintain its ‘illegitimate’ power by shedding blood.
“Fair elections, tolerance, conscience, compassion and kindness are not there in the dictionary of Awami League. The ongoing festival of bloodshed in the country, has manifested an inhuman face of the state,” he observed.
The BNP leader said had the criminals, irrespective of their political identities, been brought under the ambit of law and punished, then BNP-backed councillor-elect Tariqul in Sirajganj municipal elections would not have been killed by the supporters of the "defeated" Awami League councillor candidate.
Fakhrul said the brutal assassination of Tariqul is undoubtedly another scandalous chapter against fair elections in Bangladesh during the tenure of the current government.
He demanded the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers of Tariqul.