Workers’ Party of Bangladesh president Rashed Khan Menon on Saturday said dialogue and arrest of opposition leaders can go on simultaneously.
“As the opposition said dialogue and hartal could go on simultaneously, dialogue and arrest might continue concurrently,” he said.
Menon came up with the remark while addressing a rally organised by Dinajpur unit of Workers’ Party on the local press club premises.
Earlier on Friday night, plainclothes police arrested BNP standing committee members Barrister Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar and Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah, BNP Chairperson’s adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo and her special assistant Shimul Biswas in the city.
Defending the government’s move, Menon said police arrested the opposition leaders to maintain law and order as the opposition called another spell of hartal. “I think the government has no other option but to go tough on the opposition to control this situation.”
On Friday afternoon, the opposition alliance called a 72-hour countrywide hartal to push the government for arranging the next election under a non-party caretaker government.
As the government arrested five senior BNP leaders following the hartal call, the 18-party alliance on Saturday extended its 72-hour nationwide hartal by 12 hours to 6pm Wednesday in protest against the government’s move.
Accusing the opposition of unleashing violence, including communal attacks on minorities during their recently-enforced shutdown, Menon said, “They (opposition) have destroyed the houses of minorities in Lalmonirhat during the recent hartal. They forced the minorities to leave the country.”
Mentioning that the opposition BNP does not want to sit in dialogue to resolve the present political crisis, he said they are working to implement different agenda out of election.
Source: UNB Connect