Bangladesh authorities have threatened to level murder charges against Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Begum Khaleda Zia and have arrested her deputy for inciting party supporters to indulge in street violence. BNP acting general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was arrested the day the Opposition started a nationwide blockade to air its condemnation of the general elections boycotted by his party on the occasion of its first anniversary. Bangladesh Information Minister Hasan-ul Haq Inu has now targeted the 69 year old Khaleda Zia. An arson attack by her supporters last week left three persons seriously injured. Political tension has mounted in the country. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also accused her arch rival, Khaleda Zia, of trying to unleash anarchy in Bangladesh. Authorities have also ordered a television channel off the air for broadcasting a speech by Zia’s eldest son, Tarique Rahman.
Meanwhile, Khaleda Zia has sought New Delhi’s support to restore democracy in the country. Her party is demanding fresh parliamentary elections under a neutral caretaker government and in the presence of international monitors. BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan has said that failure of democracy in Bangladesh will push the country to extremism. That will have adverse security implications for India. He has said that Bangladesh aspires to be a truly democratic country and that the BNP’s agitation is peaceful. But the government is using brute force. The Awami League is giving India a bad name by claiming it has New Delhi’s full support in cracking down on opposition forces. The NDA government in New Delhi should use the utmost caution in taking a sensible attitude. The BNP’s link with the Jammat-e-Islam, a rabid Islamic fundamentalist party which has been banned should not be lost sight of.
