Govt agencies involved in Farhad abduction: BNP
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has alleged that government agencies were “involved in the abduction of noted columnist and poet Farhad Mazhar”.
Demanding immediate return of Farhad to his family, the opposition party further alleged that the abduction didn’t happen beyond the knowledge of the government.
Poet, essayist, and political analyst Farhad Mazhar was abducted from his Adabar residence early Monday, said his family.
The police, however, said Farhad Mazhar remained missing after he “went out of his residence in the morning in his normal clothes”.
At an impromptu press conference at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters on Monday, party’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the government had made him (Farhad) a target, being afraid of his writings and thoughts.
He said people will take to streets if the “noted intellectual” is not released immediately.
Rizvi said Farhad might have been kidnapped to divert people’s attention following the hope that was emerged in public mind after the Supreme Court declared the 16th constitutional amendment illegal.
He also said the columnist might have been picked up for his statements given at a press conference on Sunday along with Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman.
Asked about the basis of his allegation that the government agencies were involved in the abduction, the BNP spokesperson said, “We’ve seen such incidents in the past. Ilias Ali, Chowdhury Alam, and many others were picked up in such a fashion. The government agencies are picking them up by microbus and then stage a drama, saying, ‘we are looking into matter’.”
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