Shahriar Alam explains why MoFA shares non-paper on recent political situation with foreign missions

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said the government felt the urge to share the information with the foreign missions stationed in Dhaka anybody asks giving no room for "misinformation" and "confusion".

"It is nothing new. It falls within the normal diplomatic practice as we always do that and keep all informed when something big happens," he told reporters, noting that BNP's entire plan to create anarchy centring 10 December went in vain.

Alam said BNP is spreading propaganda at home and abroad and they had chosen 10 December as major countries announced new sanctions on 9 December and they tried to block streets from 7 December.

The government said it would not allow deliberate violence and vandalism by anybody that are threats to public security and the law-and-order situation in the country.

The state minister said BNP invested millions of dollars and pounds for the lobbyists who assured the party that there will be more sanctions afresh.

"Centring this, they were in a celebratory mood and wanted to prove that the government does not have any friends," Alam said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) offered BNP the permission to hold their public meeting at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan having enough space for a large gathering.

The state minister said that the BNP did not accept the venue, it did not go with their spirit and they did not have the ability to bring people in large numbers.

He said politics is not like a picnic and it is not acceptable to create barriers for the people blocking the streets.

BNP leaders announced plans to bring around 2.5 million people from all across the country to Dhaka.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 12 December shared a "non-paper on recent political situation in Bangladesh" with all foreign missions and office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka.

Assessing the possible implications on security, public safety, safety of properties, public mobility and overall law-and-order situation in the capital ahead of the glorious Victory Day on 16 December, the historic Suhrawardy Udyan was offered.

"Presumably, BNP leaders wanted to make a political issue out of the venue. Their objective was to create anarchy on the busy public street as they did in 2014 and 2018 before the national elections," the MoFA note reads.

It mentioned that the BNP wanted to take common people under hostage situations to make their unlawful demand.

BNP took a ploy to press for the constitutional right to peaceful assembly through unlawful and violent means, according to the document seen by UNB.

According to the police, cocktails were also found in the BNP party office.

The circumstantial evidence shows that the actual plan of the BNP was to occupy the street forcefully and unlawfully three days prior to the scheduled public gathering, according to the MoFA document.

Later BNP agreed on an alternative venue (Golapbag Math) for their 10 December meeting, and the meeting went peacefully without any major incident.

"This reflects the government's willingness and efforts to ensure freedom of expression and assembly," reads the document.