People Worried Over Arson and Sabotage Across the Country: Khelafat Andolan

Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan has expressed deep concern over arson attacks, cocktail bomb explosions and other acts of sabotage across the country.

The party’s Ameer, Maulana Habibullah Miazi, said that arson attacks on public transport and terrorist attacks had put the lives and property of ordinary people at serious risk. He made these remarks in a statement sent to the media on Wednesday (November 11).

In the statement, he said recent acts of sabotage in different parts of the country were very alarming. He mentioned several incidents. These included people being injured in cocktail bomb explosions in the capital; a bus being set on fire in Faridpur, killing its driver by burning; a police vehicle being set on fire in Tungipara; and railway lines and trains being set on fire in Khulna and Mymensingh.

He also mentioned bus fires in Chattogram, Savar and Dhamrai; a fire attack on a Chander Gari in Khagrachhari; fires at a bank and a college in Amtali, Barguna; a petrol bomb attack on an Islamic University (IU) bus; a fire at a BNP office in Guimara; and a fire on a parked train in Mohanganj, Netrokona. He also referred to the locking of four educational institutions in Fatikchhari. He said these incidents had created serious fear among people.

Expressing anger over the law and order situation, Maulana Miazi said people were surprised by the Home Minister’s irresponsible statement that the rule of law had not been affected by a few isolated incidents and fires in one or two places. He said the Home Minister could not avoid responsibility for the serious decline in law and order across the country. He alleged that these terrorist acts could not have taken place across the country if law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies had been active enough.

Raising questions about the police chain of command, the Khelafat Andolan chief said that no effective action was being taken even when activists of a politically banned organisation were holding rallies in public. He warned that police inaction could bring a major disaster for the country.

Speaking about the economic crisis, he warned that continued attacks on vehicles, explosions and instability could badly damage the country’s trade, foreign investment, production and transport sectors. He said ordinary working people would have to bear the direct cost of such damage.

In this situation, the Khelafat Andolan Ameer called on patriotic political parties and aware members of society to stand together and resist any attempt to bring back fascism.