Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Thursday alleged that a state intelligence agency was making efforts to form a King’s Party in the country.
He also expressed concern over the new Cyber Protection Ordinance, 2024 potential abuse.
‘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 organised the programme commemorating a bloody incident on RU campus on December 22, 1984.
Rizvi alleged that members of the intelligence agencies were visiting various areas, urging people to contact specific persons. ‘They can’t do it.’
The BNP leader 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 said that Bangladesh should have a genuine democratic environment where people could vote for the party of their choice and form political parties without any interference from intelligence agencies, threats, or state surveillance.
Rizvi said that if the interim government acted like Moyeenuddin-Fakhruddin and repeated 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.’
Describing the new Cyber Protection Ordinance, 2024 as an extension of the Digital Security Act, Rizvi expressed concern over its potential abuse, as the law enforcement agencies have been given immense powers.
‘A new law, styled The Cyber Protection Ordinance, 2024, has been passed. I am astonished at how this law has been passed by those advisers who worked for human rights and involved in the July-August movement,’ he said.
The BNP leader said that law enforcement agencies had been granted ambiguous and extensive authority through the Cyber Protection Ordinance.
According to the act, he said that the law enforcers had the power to remove or repeal any information deemed to be a threat to national solidarity, security, defence, religious values, and public safety. ‘It seems to me that this act is an extension of the Digital Security Act.’
The BNP leader questioned how the government would define solidarity, security, and religious values. ‘If law enforcement agencies are given such immense power, there is a significant risk of extensive abuse.’
On Tuesday, the council of advisers in principle approved the draft ‘Cyber Protection Ordinance, 2024’ placed by the information and communication technology division.
