Panchagarh BNP leader died of heart attack: Hasan

Information and broadcasting minister Hasan Mahmud on Monday said the reason behind the death of BNP leader Abdur Rashid during the party’s mass procession programme in Panchagarh on Saturday was a heart attack, not a clash with police.

“BNP leaders should not push workers towards conflict,” he said while exchanging views with journalists at the ministry’s meeting room at the secretariat, reports news agency BSS.

Saying that any death is sorrowful, Hasan, who is also Awami League joint general secretary, prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.

“He (Rashid) was a cardiac patient. He had undergone a bypass surgery. He came to the BNP procession, but he collapsed in front of a mosque before the beginning of the clash with police and on-duty doctors declared him dead after he was taken to hospital,” he said.

The minister said an autopsy report on Sunday confirmed that Rashid died of a cardiac arrest.

“BNP always push their activists towards conflict, which is not a good thing. This kind of politics will not bring any welfare for the country and it won’t benefit their party too. BNP should refrain from such politics,” Hasan said.

About BNP’s remarks that they will not take part in the election under the incumbent government, Hasan reminded the opposition party leaders that the government doesn’t conduct elections, the election commission does.

He added that after the election schedule gets announced, the government doesn’t have jurisdiction to transfer even an Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) or officer-in-change (OC) of a police station.

“We want the country’s democracy to get stronger through a participatory, fair and proper election. It is a shame but the truth is BNP doesn’t believe in democracy,” he said adding that BNP was born in an undemocratic way.

Hasan said BNP knew that they have lost touch with the people and that is why they fear to take part in polls.

But it is neither the duty of Awami League nor the government to remove their fear, he said.

“In 2014, we also wanted BNP’s participation in the election. They took the path of resisting the polls instead of taking part in the elections and they torched 500 polling centres. They even killed presiding officer and police personnel.”

“In 2018, they were in dilemma whether they would take part in polls or not and they joined the polls at the eleventh hour,” he said.

“We want BNP to take part in the polls with their full strength. We want a participatory poll and the formation of the next government with the polls. We don’t want any walk-over,” he said.

The minister said, “We want to win the game by playing it. Our team is very strong. We firmly believe that if BNP comes to the election field, we will again achieve a landslide victory by defeating them like we did in 2018.”

About BNP leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain’s comment that BNP’s mass procession is the beginning of their movement to topple the government, the AL joint general secretary mockingly said BNP begins their movement every day.

“We saw how many people joined their mass procession. When people walk along the Gulistan intersection during rush hour, there are more people in the crowd than BNP’s procession,” he said.