The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday reacted to the warrant for arrest of party chairperson Kheleda Zia, calling the step “politics of vendetta”.
The BNP alleged that the arrest warrant was issued on a former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, on the instruction of the Awami League-led government.
“Issuance of the arrest warrant is not only ridiculous. It’s a part of the government blue-print,” said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam in a statement.
He added that the arrest warrant was issued to deflect people’s attention from Nasirnagar minority attacks.
The BNP secretary general issued the statement hours after a Dhaka court issued the arrest warrant in a case filed for celebrating what the plaintiff called fake birthday on the national mourning day on 15 August.
Condemning the issuance of the arrest warrant, Mirza Fakhrul said the arrest warrant is another “step of politics of vendetta of the ruling coterie”.
“Citizens of the country now don’t have freedom to celebrate personal programmes the way they don’t have the freedom of speech and the democratic rights,” read Fakhrul’s statement.
The BNP secretary general pointed out that the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) government has realised that the people are aggrieved at its misrule.
“That’s why it is hatching different conspiracies against the opposition political parties.”
He said the government has resorted to filling false cases against Khaleda Zia failing to get any success in destroying the country’s nationalist force.
The BNP leader issued a note of warning that their struggle would never be stopped by issuing arrest warrants.