Common people being forced to join processions: Rizvi

Dubbing the forthcoming 12th parliamentary elections as the “dummy election”, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has alleged that the country has turned into a safe haven for terrorists.

He also said that the people have no interest at all in the election where no opposition is participating and the outcome has already been finalised.

People are being forced to join the processions, he claimed while addressing a virtual press conference on Tuesday evening.

Instead of a festivity of voting, the people are gripped by panic and apprehensiveness everywhere, he added.

Rizvi said a staged election has been organised to show the democratic world the so-called festival of voting. But the people for whom this farce has been staged are watching everything. None of this will work at the end.

Coming down hard on neighbouring India, Rizvi said, the name of the neighbouring country is well known as one of the top instigators of this staged election. They seek stability in the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, not democracy in Bangladesh and the rights of the people in this country. They have started expressing their will now.

Mentioning that two-time MP from Meherpur-1 constituency, Abdul Mannan, claimed him as a candidate of India, the BNP leader asked is Bangladesh subject to another country?

Rizvi also demanded publishing the list of people who are “candidates of India like Abdul Mannan”.

The BNP senior joint secretary general also claimed that the government has once again been carrying out arson terrorism across the country in a planned way to justify the election.

He also condemned the police claim that Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’s former vice-president Ikhtiar Rahman Kabir severed the rail track in Gazipur at the behest of Jubo Dal leader Sultan Salahuddin.