'This is normal legal actions to be taken for breaking laws'

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders and activists arrested so far are wanted accused, said home minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday.

“Our message is clear. Legal actions would be taken against those who will cause to public sufferings, break laws and won’t obey laws. This is normal,” he said.

The minister said this to newspersons at a programme marking 40 years’ of Bangladesh Crime Reporters’ Association on the premises of Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) in afternoon.

The cases are being filed to keep the law and order situation under control where vandalism is going on and this is normal, stated the home minister. He further said BNP is not being obstructed anywhere.

The minister remarked that BNP has started the movement suddenly. “They have moved away from people because of the party’s way of doing politics in the past. People have also lost their interest in them. People’s verdict in the parliamentary election in 2008 and in the subsequent elections is the proof of that. They do not contest polls as people would cast votes in their favour.”

The home minister also alleged that without thinking about the sufferings of people, BNP has been announcing programmes on the streets and at other places every day. "Any party can wage movement in supports of its manifesto and policy, we would not hinder them," Asaduzzaman quoted the prime minister as saying "they have been saying that we are obstructing them."

Mentioning about different programmes of de facto opposition BNP, the minister said, “BNP approached commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police over its youth rally. We do not have any objection to any youth rally. They asked for Suhrawardy Udyan to hold the rally, we granted that. We asked them not to close the roads as this causes to public sufferings. Where have you seen in this that our government is not cooperating with them? Police are giving permission to them for holding programmes whenever they are asking for it.”

Asked, the home minister said, “According to the investigation report of an intelligence agency, the death of the person in Lakshmipur was due to a clash over business; that was not connected to any political party.”

Rapid Action Battalion director general M Khurshid Hossain, highway police chief additional deputy inspector general of police Shahbuddin Khan, RAB media wing director commander Khandaker Al Moin, Bangladesh Crime Reporters’ Association president Mirza Mehedi Tamal and general secretary Mamunur Rashid were, among others, present at the programme.