State agency trying to form a 'King's Party': Rizvi

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Thursday alleged that a state intelligence agency is making efforts to form a King's Party in the country, reports UNB.

"Which direction do you (the government) want to take the country? We've heard that there is an attempt to establish a King's Party. The efforts made by Moyeenuddin and Fakhruddin, and what Sheikh Hasina has done with the intelligence agencies, we are hearing of the same thing now," he said at a discussion.

Rajshahi University Nationalist Ex-Student Association (RUNESA) organised the programme commemorating a bloody incident on Rajshahi University campus on December 22, 1984.

Rizvi alleged that members of the intelligence agencies are visiting various areas, urging people to contact specific persons. "They can't do it."

The BNP leader said people would not have made so many sacrifices they knew it would happen.

He questioned the significance of fighting against Sheikh Hasina if such a situation returns where state intelligence agencies decide who will be elected and which political party will be formed.

"Sheikh Hasina did the same thing... She used to issue threats to members of the opposition parties through the intelligence agencies, from grassroots levels to the national level, as part of her efforts to remove them from the BNP and form another political party," Rizvi claimed.

He also said Sheikh Hasina used intelligence agencies to split the BNP for 16 or 17 years.

"We are now hearing again that intelligence agencies are working in various places to form a political party, to support someone. But the people of this country will not accept this," the BNP leader warned.

He said Bangladesh should have a genuine democratic environment where people can vote for the party of their choice and form political parties without any interference from intelligence agencies, threats, or state surveillance. "That's a true democratic society and a true democratic state."

Rizvi said if the interim government acts like Moyeenuddin-Fakhruddin and repeats the same tactics as HM Ershad and Sheikh Hasina, people would view it as another attempt to establish fascism. "This cannot be allowed to happen."

Speaking at the programme, BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan called upon the leaders and workers of the party at all levels to remain united in the pursuit of real democracy.

"We have many achievements... now we must go to the people. We must be united in establishing democracy," he said.

Rizvi claimed that a fire broke out at the secretariat after the government sought some important documents and files, raising a big question in people's minds.

He called for an investigation into the fire by impartial authorities at the highest level, as it occurred shortly after files and documents related to Sheikh Hasina and her associates were sought by the government.

"It's creating suspicions in the public mind, as some documents were burned in the devastating secretariat fire."

The BNP leader said people are suspecting the motive of the fire incident as it occurred late at night, burning many documents.

"We are worried about various incidents happening around us. It's not a matter of personal fear, but a fear for the state. We have seen before that when there is a public protest against a secretary or minister, files mysteriously disappear or a fire breaks out inside the secretariat," Rizvi observed.

On the other hand, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday demanded a thorough investigation into the fire at the Secretariat to identify the real culprits, reports UNB.

In a statement, he also expressed deep concern over the fire incident that broke out in the sensitive Secretariat building last night, leaving one person dead.

"The devastating fire at the Secretariat has caused significant damages, with important documents reduced to ashes. It is not unusual that the current interim government finds itself in an embarrassing situation in the wake of such an incident," the BNP leader said.

"I strongly demand that the real culprits be identified and punished through a proper investigation into the fire," he said.

Fakhrul called upon the government to provide appropriate compensation to the family of the fire victim and those injured in the incident.

The fire, which broke on the sixth floor of Secretariat Building No. 7 around 1:52 am, was completely extinguished after 10 hours of firefighting efforts.

The fire severely damaged four floors of Building No. 7, from the sixth to the ninth, which housed multiple key ministries and divisions.