BNP sends letter to foreign missions blaming govt, police for Oct 28 violence

BNP sent a letter to embassies and high commissions in Dhaka on Monday, blaming the government, ruling party "cadres" and the police for the incidents of violence centring its Nayapaltan grand rally on October 28 (Saturday).

A BNP senior leader, preferring not to be named, said the seven-page letter, along with some documents and video and audio clips, was sent to the foreign missions in Dhaka on Monday afternoon.

In the letter, signed by the party‍‍`s Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, BNP also informed the foreign diplomats about prevailing political situation in the country.

BNP elaborately explained from its side what actually happened on October 28, and the reasons behind announcing tougher programmes like the countrywide hartal and blockade.

“On 28 October 2023, during the grand rally of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), certain individuals from the authoritarian Awami League government’s heavily politicised law enforcement agencies and the ruling party terrorists orchestrated violent attacks, leading to chaos and damage to public lives and property. BNP, as a political party with a firm belief in peace and liberalism, vehemently denounces and expresses profound disappointment and outrage over this situation,” the letter read.

“If we scrutinise the targets and victims of a carefully orchestrated master plan by the Awami League to sow discord on that significant day of our grand rally, it becomes evident how the state machinery exploits the unfortunate murder of a policeman as a crucial legal tool to implicate numerous eminent BNP leaders and passionate activists across the country,” it continued.

BNP said the government’s intentions are clearly driven by the deadly agenda to arrest, harass, and entangle BNP leaders and followers in legal troubles ahead of the election.

BNP had sent the letter before Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen briefed the foreign diplomats on the current political situation and political violence on October 28.