Who are obstructing peaceful rallies?

Political turmoil broke out in Mymensingh similar to Chattogram following the rally organised by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). We believe the ruling party is more responsible for this situation than the opposition party calling the rally.

It is the responsibility of the law enforcement to ensure order in public life ahead of any political programme. This does not mean that they will cut off all access to the venue of the rally and put thousands of people in indescribable suffering.

This is what they have done following BNP's rally in Mymensingh. As always we witnessed the emergence of invisible forces as well. Transport owners and workers stopped all buses, minibuses, trucks going to Mymensingh without prior announcement.

And the law enforcement conducted search drives by setting up check points at every intersection. It has been seen before that whenever the opposition party calls for any programme, the government resorts to various means to prevent it. This is not done during the current government only. All forms of communication were stopped to stop the programme of the opposition party during BNP’s tenure. We protested  at the time as we do now.

Apart from the administrative action to obstruct the programme of the opposition party, the fact that the leaders and workers of the ruling party came to the field was more worrying. According to the news published in the media, Awami League leaders and activists not only obstructed but also hacked and injured a worker in Gafargaon on the suspicion that he was going to join BNP's programme. The worker, a resident of Kishoreganj, was going to a wedding with his colleagues. Can this brutality continue in the name of politics? What did the law enforcement officers do? Why did the ruling party carry out attacks on the peaceful programme of the opposition party?

Fortunately, this rally ended very peacefully without any chaos. The government would have to take the responsibility had the programme not been allowed. BNP should hold a rallies and express themselves to the people as Awami League or other parties do. Why would it be prevented?

We call on the leaders of all the parties to should restrain from saying anything that creates chaos in the society. Those who threaten that Awami League leaders will not be able to go home after leaving power want to create chaos in the society. We don't want to see a repeat of such provocative statements. Those who believe in democracy and have minimal faith in the people cannot say these things.

Home minister Asaduzzaman raised the question, why were the BNP leaders and workers at the rally at night! The transport owner and workers answered his question by blocking all communication channels the next day. When the leaders and activists of BNP knew that the transport will be stopped, what else they could do other than going to the rally spot the night before with their beddings?

BNP announced second divisional rally in Mymensingh. There will be more such programmes. We will have hope that those gatherings will be uninterrupted. Words should be answered with words, assembly should be answered with assembly. Not by imposing bans or blockades.