Bangladesh police arrest 53 leaders, activists of Awami League in Dhaka

Dhaka, Aug 14 (IANS) At least 53 leaders and activists of the Awami League party and its affiliated organisations were arrested by Bangladesh police amid an escalating crackdown on the party and its supporters, local media reported.

According to a Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) press release, the individuals were arrested from a building in the Bashundhara residential area of Dhaka on Thursday night.

Citing Bhatara Police Station in the capital, the DMP said that the Awami League leaders and activists had gathered to organise a preparatory meeting and a flash march in connection with the August 15 mourning day. Police from Bhatara Police Station subsequently carried out a drive and took 53 people into custody. The DMP said that legal proceedings against the arrested individuals are underway, Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported.

Bangladesh observes August 15 as National Mourning Day, commemorating the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, widely regarded as the country’s ‘Father of the Nation’. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated on August 15, 1975, along with several members of his family.

Bangladesh’s Awami League on Friday strongly condemned the arrests, saying the move demonstrates that there is now little room left in the country for democratic rights or the freedom to observe religious or national occasions.

“The inhumane arrest of men and women activists wearing black mourning badges and white panjabis, simply for remembering the Father of the Nation, and branding them as ‘anti-state’ elements, represents an extreme manifestation of the BNP’s politically bankrupt and vindictive approach,” the Awami League stated.

The party claimed that the ruling BNP government has become so fearful of losing power that even an ordinary indoor meeting or dinner is being labelled an “anti-state conspiracy”.

“At a time when people are facing soaring prices of essential commodities, severe load-shedding, and a deep deterioration in law and order, unprecedented repression is being directed at dedicated Awami League activists at all levels in an attempt to divert public attention from these problems,” it noted.

Highlighting the worsening law and order situation across Bangladesh, the Awami League said that while fresh bomb attacks and militant activity are reportedly taking place from Savar and Ashulia to various parts of the country, the police are busy “confiscating black mourning badges and placards” for National Mourning Day.

“Instead of protecting public safety, the police are being turned into a partisan force for suppressing political opponents,” the party stated.

–IANS

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