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| Bangladesh | ||
| BNP behind bars | ||
| 2013-04-10 | ||
| Finds it hard to hold political programmes as over 50 active central leaders in jail The crackdown on main opposition BNP has plunged the party into a temporary leadership crisis, as more than its 50 central leaders, including the acting secretary general, are now in jail. The situation has put the opposition in a quandary. Many of its activists are confused about the fate of the ongoing anti-government agitation, as almost all the leaders active on the street have been put behind bars in less than a month. Against such backdrop, BNP has asked its young leaders to stay safe from arrests, said party's senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain yesterday. He said his party would step up the ongoing agitation and the legal battle to free their detained leaders.
On Sunday, eight senior BNP leaders, including its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir who had earlier been put behind bars twice in less than a year, were denied bail and sent to jail. They have been charged with torching vehicles and assaulting police during opposition's agitation. Chances of their coming out soon is lean, as a Dhaka court yesterday fixed April 21 to hear the bail petition filed by the defendants. On March 11, a total of 148 BNP leaders, including opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque, joint secretary generals Rizvi Ahmed and Amanullah Aman, had been detained in two cases in connection with vandalising vehicles and assaulting police. They have also been denied bail twice. On Sunday night, law enforcers detained another BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed, who had been speaking against the government and announcing the party's agitation programmes in absence of Fakhrul. "The party is facing a temporary leadership vacuum," said Khandaker Mosharraf, adding that the government had made the political situation worse by launching the crackdown. Meanwhile, Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir claimed that those who had been put behind bars were facing specific charges of arson, homemade bomb blasts and vandalism. State Minister for law Qamrul Islam, however, alleged the senior leaders of BNP of conspiring to destabilise the state organs.
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| Posted by:Steve White |