Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Monday called for a permanent ban on the law enforcement agencies’ authority to open fire on any political programmes and protests.
He made the demand while talking to reporters after paying homage to BNP’s founding chairman Ziaur Rahman, also a former president, at his grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital Dhaka.
‘No matter what kind of protest or movement occurs in this country, the law enforcement forces should not resort to taking out their shotguns and shooting to kill like Sheikh Hasina’s police force. The use of bullets and shotguns to suppress any movements or political programmes should be permanently banned,’ Rizvi said.
He said that from now on, no barbaric law from any oppressive ruler could be established.
‘We need to move away from an environment where the government can suppress the people with a bloodshot gaze. We want a society where no one stands in the way of our freedom of expressing independent thoughts and opinions,’ the BNP leader said.
Demanding a specific deadline for general elections, Rizvi said that the people had suffered the nightmare of deprivation for the past 16 or 17 years, and that they had been denied of their rights.
He urged that the interim government to give a date for holding free, fair and impartial elections.
‘We want to make it clear that the BNP is not against reform. Reform is an ongoing process that will continue for years, driven by the people’s demands, but there is no reason for delaying the election for that,’ the BNP leader said.
Rizvi along with leaders and activists led by Munshiganj unit BNP convener Mizanur Rahman Sinha placed wreaths at the grave of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and prayed for his departed soul.