Govt hiding facts on quota movement deaths; should resign immediately: Fakhrul 

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday alleged that the government has resorted to falsehood regarding facts surrounding the deaths during the violence centring quota movement.

"The government and law enforcement agencies are jointly indulging in brazen lies about the quota movement of students. The latest evidence of this is the police claim that Abu Sayed in Rangpur died not from a bullet, but from a brick, despite the fact that people both in the country and abroad witnessed how he was gunned down," Fakhrul said in a statement today (29 July). 

He also said the government is out to suppress the opposition leaders and workers instead of tracking down the real offenders involved in violence during the student movement.

He said the government should take full responsibility for the violence during the student movement and resign, respecting the people's demands.

"The illegal Awami government will not be able to conceal the truth from the people by spreading such lies and resorting to deceitful strategies and torture," the BNP leader said.

Fakhrul also claimed that the list of names and numbers of those killed in the student movement provided by the government is unacceptable as the figures reported in the media are much higher.

Besides, he said the names of slain adolescents and those killed earlier were not included in the government's list.

The BNP secretary general demanded that the government release an accurate list of casualties immediately.

He said the anti-quota movement has shaken the foundation of power of the illegal Awami League government.

"Several hundred students and citizens have been brutally killed due to state and partisan terrorism unleashed in the name of suppressing the movement. Most of those who were killed or injured were struck by bullets fired by law enforcement and ruling party cadres."

According to newspaper reports, he said the number of injured individuals receiving treatment in 31 hospitals in the capital exceeds 6,000.

"Families of the students and ordinary people who were wounded are being intimidated by law enforcement agencies. Even the victims' families have alleged that the autopsy reports of the deceased are being altered at the behest of the government. Many slain people have been buried without an autopsy," the BNP leader said.

He said the prime minister and other ministers are repeatedly saying that they will ensure punishment by finding out the real perpetrators. "But the reality is that instead of finding out the actual criminals, the government is focused on suppressing the leaders and activists of opposition parties, including the BNP."

Fakhrul voiced concerns over the further placement of opposition leaders on police remand, including BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, and Gono Odhikar Parishad Member Secretary Nurul Haque Nur.

He said, "Although many leaders and activists of the BNP and other opposition parties, as well as students involved in the quota movement, were taken away by plainclothes police, they have still not been returned to their families."