The Opposition has denied any link with the arson attack on a bus at Shahbagh in capital Dhaka on the third day of its nationwide transport blockade.
Condemning the violence in a statement released on Thursday night, BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir claimed that ‘agents’ of the government were carrying out such attacks.
The government was trying to discredit the Opposition movement in the eyes of the people, he said.
At least 19 people received severe burn injuries when alleged blockade supporters hurled Molotov cocktails at a moving bus at Shahbagh setting it on fire.
One of them died while undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital around 11:30pm.
Mirza Fakhrul, in the statement, held the ruling Awami League responsible for the arson attack at Shahbagh.
“The government is carrying out the acts of sabotage on the various modes of transport with the help of its agents. It is murdering and repressing Opposition leaders and activists by using police-RAB-BGB and terrorists,” he said.
“The incident of burning people by setting a bus on fire at Shahbagh today [Thursday] is a repeat of the incident in which people were killed when a bus was set on fire with gunpowder by the Awami League in front of Hotel Sheraton [now Ruposhi Bangla Hotel].”
The BNP spokesperson also demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators of Thursday’s arson attack in the capital.
Earlier in the evening, State Minister of Home Affairs Shamsul Hoque Tuku visited the injured at the DMCH.
He told reporters there, “Those who carry out such attacks are not human. They are animals.”
Fakhrul in his statement said, “Awami League is mainly a terrorism-based party. Moreover, it is Awami League’s culture and habit to blame the Opposition for the terrorist acts it committs to fulfil its plans.”
“They are doing everything to hold a one-sided election under their supervision.”
The government-backed media houses were spreading disinformation by blaming the Opposition for the violence carried out by supporters of Awami League, Juba League and Chhatra League, Fakhrul claimed.
The BNP leader also urged the leaders and activists of the 18-Party Alliance to stay vigilant.
The Opposition had given the call for the countrywide transport blockade on Monday in protest against the schedule of the general election announced by the Election Commission.
It has been pressing for a non-party poll-time government to oversee the 10th parliamentary elections. – bdnews24.com
