LDP president Oli demands release of Jamaat leaders

Oli Ahmed, president of the BNP-led 20-party alliance partner Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), on Wednesday demanded the release of Jamaat leaders arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act, reports UNB.

In a statement, he said every political party in Bangladesh has a constitutional right to run its political activities.

“The government has unjustifiably arrested Jamaat-e-Islami senior leaders, including its secretary general Mia Golam Parwar, out of the spirit of revenge. It’s an unlawful act,” the LDP leader said.

He said the Jamaat leaders were discussing their party’s activities peacefully sitting at a residence. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Oli said it is regrettable that the current government has established a ‘one-party autocratic’ rule in the country.

“The consequences of all kinds of injustice can never be good. I hope the government will realise the fact and immediately release all the arrested Jamaat leaders, including its secretary general,” he stated.

On Monday, police arrested Golam Parwar and eight other Jamaat leaders from a house in Bashundhara residential area in the capital.

Later, they were shown arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act for orchestrating anti-state activities and plotting.

Though Jamaat is one of the key partners of it, neither the 20-party nor BNP issued any statement directly demeaning the release of the Islamist party leaders.

On Tuesday, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir issued a statement voicing concern over the arrest of opposition party leaders and demanding their release.

He, however, did not mention the name of Jamaat or the names of its arrested leaders in the statement.

In that statement, Fakhrul said the government has gone crazy to arrest the leaders and activists of opposition parties, including BNP.

He also demanded the release of the arrested leaders of BNP and other opposition parties and withdrawal of ‘fabricated’ cases filed against them.