BNP offices in 56 districts remain locked

The central office of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Dhaka has remained locked for a month, and district offices of the party are also locked in most districts. Nobody knows when the party offices will open or when party leaders and activists will start gathering there.

After talking to BNP leaders and visiting party offices in 64 districts over the past two days, Prothom Alo learned that BNP’s office remains closed in 56 districts, while party offices are open in four districts and there is no office in four districts.

Leaders and activists of BNP said police patrol in the areas of the party office, and intelligence agencies remain active. Fear of arrest grips the party leaders and activists, forcing them into hiding. As a result, party offices are not open.

BNP has 82 organizational districts, including 64 districts. There are city and district unit offices in the divisional towns. Big districts are organizationally divided into south and north units.

It has been learned that offices of 72 out of 80 organizational units remain closed. Offices of district and city units are located in the same building or office in some places, while there are no offices in four districts.

BNP offices are found open in Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Kushtia, and Meherpur, but the presence of party leaders and activists is very thin, and district leaders said they do not go to the party office due to the fear of being arrested.

Most of the party offices have remained closed since the foiled grand rally of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Dhaka on October 28. The clashes between police and BNP members during the rally resulted in two casualties, including a policeman. Subsequently, the police launched a nationwide manhunt. The BNP organized the October 28 rally to demand the resignation of the government.

According to police and court sources, as well as reports from Prothom Alo's correspondents, more than 9,700 leaders and activists have been arrested across the country in the last month.

Many active central leaders, including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, are behind bars, while the remaining leaders have gone into hiding. Although some district leaders are in jail, the majority of them are also in hiding. According to BNP, more than 17,000 leaders and activists have been arrested so far.

Selima Rahaman joined the politics through JAGDAL (Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrick Dal) in 1977. She is a member of BNP standing committee now. Selima Rahman told Prothom Alo she never saw such torture as well as a huge number cases against opposition leaders and activists, not even during the military regime of HM Earsahd.

Police go to the houses of the party leaders-activists, and if police do not the find them they detain their relatives, while masked and helmet gangs are attacking at houses, she said adding BNP leaders-activists cannot to go the party office for the fear of apprehension, but they are active and the scenarios will obviously change.

The main gate of the BNP’s central office in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan was locked on the night of 28 October after the party’s rally was foiled on the day. Police said they did not lock the party office whereas police themselves did it.

Police heightened security in front of the BNP central office on 29 October. Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) crime scene unit corroded off the front side of the BNP office with crime scene tape. Two days later, barbed-wire barricades were erected on both sides, which were removed on 14 November. However, police and intelligence members remain present in the area regularly.

Visiting the area, the collapsible gate of BNP office was found locked. Three plastic chairs were seen inside the office. There were several newspapers on it. Dust covered the chairs and newspapers.

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Paltan police station was on duty in front of the BNP office. He told Prothom Alo he saw none opening the lock or trying to enter the party office.

BNP has permanent or temporary offices in 54 out of 64 districts. Houses or personal offices of the BNP leaders were use as the party office in six districts while there is no office in four districts.

It has been learned that several offices have been closed for a month; several offices for more than one month; some offices are closed for even more. Several offices have been closed since the recent violence.

BNP’s Magura district unit office has been closed since 28 October. Office caretaker Syed Rafiqul Islam told Prothom Alo the office was opened for a short time three days after the 28 October, police ordered them not to open it. Local BNP leaders were told, “Central office remains closed, and why did you open it then?”

District police denied the allegation saying no instruction has been given to keep the offices of the police parties open or closed.

BNP’s Khulna city and district offices are located on the city’s KD Ghoash area, and the offices have been locked for a month. Khulna city unit member secretary Shafiqul Alam told Prothom Alo, “None has been left the various cases. Our office is near to the police station and one is arrested when just after leaving the office.”

Party leaders said the Narail office has been closed for three months. They said the district office had opened for four times in the past five years. The office last opened on 1 September on the occasion of the party’s founding anniversary. District BNP unit president Bishwash Jahangir Alam said when they opened the office the ruling party men locked.

The Feni district office is located on Islampur road of the Feni town. It opened after on 28 Octobers, but was closed on 11 November when activists of Jubo League and Chattara League started patrolling in the area. Police also strengthened the activity.

The residence of central BNP vice president Md Shajahan is known as the makeshift office of BNP’s Noakhali district unit. Visiting the house in the town’s Fakirpur area, it was found locked on Tuesday.

District general secretary Abdur Rahman told Prothom Alo their leaders and activists are living in inhuman state in self-hiding, and many are behind bars. That is why their office remains closed now, he added.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir hails from Thakurgaon, where the party's district office is open. However, male party activists seldom visit the office, while women leaders occasionally organize processions.

In Panchagarh, the BNP district unit office remains open, with leaders and activists attending various events. Zahirul Islam, the district unit convener, mentioned, "We go to the party office every day and stay there."

Although the local leaders are in hiding, the BNP's district unit office in Meherpur is open. District unit president Masud Arun stated that they are conducting movements from undisclosed locations.

With the 12th parliamentary election scheduled for 7 January, Awami League, its partners, and allies are gearing up. However, many active leaders at the central, district, and upazila levels are either in custody or hiding.

Incidents of attacks on the houses of selected BNP leaders and activists have occurred. Over the past six weeks, at least 93 leaders' and activists' houses were attacked in seven districts, with at least 18 secret attacks targeting BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami members in Rajshahi, Natore, and Naogaon in the last two months.

Writer and researcher Mohiuddin Ahmed emphasized that the current political situation, along with the level of torture and oppression on the opposition, is unprecedented in Bangladesh's history. He stated that conducting an election by sidelining a party using state mechanisms lacks credibility and cannot be considered a democratic practice.