Criticising the government for what she described as its repressive acts, BNP chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia said on Tuesday that the country was going through a phase of utter misrule. In a written statement issued on the occasion of the International Day against Torture, to be observed on Wednesday, Khaleda said, “Bangladesh is now under terrible misrule. Many opposition leaders and activists have been subjected to secret killing, forced disappearance and abduction since the present government came to power.”
The BNP chief also accused the government of resorting to vicious repressive policies and carrying out mass killings earlier this year. “Killing of journalists and brutally torturing many of them have become the order of the day,” the former premier said.
“Newspapers and television channels have been forced to shut down so that the opposition cannot air its voice against the government’s misdeeds,” she alleged.
The government had let loose law enforcement personnel on anyone trying to speak against the government’s repressive and undemocratic acts, she said.
“Women and children are being tortured and violated in different parts across the country by government-patronised terrorists,” she alleged.
Stating that devout religious people of the Alem and Ulema community were brutally killed across the country, the opposition leader said people were denied court justice. “The government is using the judiciary in its own interest. The voice of justice is now weeping in the wilderness,” Khaleda said.
On the eve of the International Day against Torture, which has been declared by the United Nations, Khaleda expressed commiseration for all the oppressed people of Bangladesh and the world.
-With The Independent input
