BNP says Bhola incident premeditated; demands fair probe

Describing the incident over the blasphemous Facebook post from a hacked account as a premeditated one, BNP on Monday demanded a fair investigation into Sunday’s violence in Bhola to uncover its real reasons, UNB reports.

“Communal harmony in our country has been a unique example since the time immemorial. People here live peacefully regardless of religion and race. Making untoward comments about a religion has not been there in the tradition of the country,” said BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain.

He further said, “We think the Bhola incident was a planned one. We demand a fair investigation to unearth the reasons for which Bhola was bleached with blood, and exemplary punishment of those responsible for the incident.”

Mosharraf, a BNP standing committee member, came up with the comment while speaking at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office.

Four people were killed and about 200 others injured on Sunday in a clash between police and demonstrating locals in Borhanuddin upazila, demanding the punishment of a youth for allegedly hurting religious sentiments on the social media.

Police and locals said messages containing derogatory remarks about Allah and Prophet Muhammad were sent to several persons from a hacked Facebook ID of Biplob Chandra Shuvo, triggering a widespread protest.

Stating that the Bhola incident was ‘mass killing’, Mosharraf condemned and protested the ‘killing and indiscriminate firing by police’ on the common people of the district.

He warned the government that the consequences of ignoring people cannot be good. “Don’t play anymore with the lives and property of people. “Enough is enough. The trial of mass killing in Bhola must be held and people’s demands be accepted.”

The BNP leader criticised the role of police in tackling the protest of people in Bhola. “Such aggressive attitude of the police is brutal and unpardonable. As they’ve no accountability, it’s natural they’ll kill people by indiscriminate firing over a trifling matter…it has become a regular practice. The lives of people now have lower value than that of animals and birds due to the misrule of the current regime.”

He said law enforcers in other countries handle an untoward incident with patience without firing a shot, but the police in Bangladesh have little patience in dealing with an incident.

Mosharraf alleged that the government and its ‘protectors’ have become disparate in fear of losing power. “Had the government fallen if people in Bhola would have been allowed to stage demonstrations?”

He said people in Borhanuddin upazila did not commit any crime by gathering at a spot to register their protest against an unfair act. “They (demonstrators) neither harmed anyone nor indulged in vandalism. There’s nothing new that people turn angry when derogatory remarks are made about any religion.”

The BNP leader also voiced wonder that the local administration is conspiring to tactfully give people’s protest in Bhola a flavour of communalism.

Mosharraf said it seems that the government is trying to justify the killing instead of regretting. “The Prime Minister is threatening the protesters with her natural attitude.”

BNP standing committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi were, among others, present.