Cutting of rail tracks: BNP’s statement made ‘in haste to pass blame,’ say political observers

In a statement, BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has said that cutting of rail tracks in Gazipur on Wednesday, during the blockade called by BNP, was done to “shift the blame on the opposition.”

Political observers, however, described the claim as “done in haste to pass the blame on Awami League.”

They recalled recent media reports on picketers from a sudden rally led by Rizvi in Dhaka throwing brick chips at buses and other vehicles on the street.

TV reports showed the BNP leader in a rally comprising picketers who burnt a tyre on the street in an attempt to stop vehicular movement, and when they failed, they started throwing brick chips at buses, cars and CNG-run auto-rickshaws.

“It’s a shame that party leaders still indulge in attempts to mislead the global community and voters. Repetition of such ploys will only tarnish the party’s image,” said Prof Pranab Pandey of Department of Public Administration, Rajshahi University.

“Yet another ridiculous effort from BNP leadership which shows they care little about what people think of them,” said Ekushey Padak-winning journalist Ajoy Das Gupta.

“Denial has become a part and parcel of BNP’s politics to mislead the public and global community on the whole,” added Das Gupta.

Nirmal Rozario, president of Bangladesh Christian Association, said that refusal to publicly acknowledge the involvement of party cadres in attacks on minorities in the past had already damaged BNP’s image.

BNP leadership has repeatedly denied any involvement of party activists and leaders in the arson attacks between 2013 and 2015.

Ahead of the violence on October 28, surrounding BNP’s rally in Dhaka, a call by Tarique Rahman from London that “the fate of the country will be decided on the streets” drew criticism from rights activists and minority community leaders. This is “an instigation to trigger a fresh spell of violence,” they said.