Acts of political violence and sabotage are still feared even almost two weeks of the end of the 12th parliamentary polls, boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
After winning a landslide victory in the January 7 polls, the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina has formed the government aiming at building a corruption-free smart Bangladesh with non-stop progress while the BNP has been planning to continue its so-called ‘tougher movement’ to unseat the government.
This is evident from the statements of the BNP stalwarts that the party and its allies have not refrained from their stand to dislodge the government.
People say that although the election is over, they are still sensing a fresh round of violent activities in the mask of political actions.
The apprehension of people has been reflected through the statements of the senior leaders of the both ruling and opposition camps.
AL general secretary on Friday alleged that the BNP had silently been preparing for staging wide scale of violent activities.
“Now they are silently preparing and gathering strength for staging a large scale violence,” he said.
BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan on Friday said his party along with the support of the people of the country would restore democracy by toppling the current regime through a street movement with fresh programmes.
BNP’s another standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan also pledged to continue their anti-government movement, citing the lack of democratic practice in the country.
“There is no right to speak here….people do not have the fundamental rights and the right to vote…people do not have the democratic rights. This is not the statement of the BNP nor the people of the country alone rather it is the language of all democratic countries and human rights bodies. They all are saying that Bangladesh has been turned into a one-party regime,” he said.
Terming the recently held election free and fair, influential countries like China, Russia and India greeted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her resumption in office for the fourth consecutive term and offered to extend cooperation to take the bilateral relations to a new height.
Against the backdrop, the United States of America has given a different views from that of other countries.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday mentioned the acts of violence and less participation of political parties in the general election of Bangladesh.
“We regret that not all parties participated, and we condemn the violence that took place during elections and in the months leading up to it,” he said.
“We urge all parties to reject political violence,” he added.
A number of buses, railway coaches and other public and private property were destroyed during the blockade and hartal programmes, enforced by the BNP-Jamaat, leaving several people dead.
