Sadik Kayem, vice-president of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), has accused the BNP government of having merged with Awami League fascism. He said BNP was being run in the same tone and manner in which the Awami League spoke and ran the country, and that the police force was being politicised and pushed back towards crossfire killings.
He spoke on Monday at a discussion held in memory of those killed in the Paltan violence of 28 October 2006.
Opening his speech with prayers for Saifullah Mohammad Shipon, Masum, Mujahid and the others killed on 28 October, Sadik Kayem said: “28 October 2006 was a day of shame in Bangladesh’s history. That day, people were killed in a rampage with poles and oars, and the seeds of mafia rule were sown in the country. Because the road to justice for it stayed blocked, one mass killing followed another over the next 16 years: the Pilkhana killings, the killing of clerics at Shapla Chattar, and the deaths of top national leaders through the injustice of the International Crimes Tribunal.”
Referring to the July uprising, he said: “The freedom that Abu Sayeed, Ali Raihan, Wasim and Shanto dreamed of was the same freedom the martyrs of 2006 dreamed of. But nearly 20 years on, the killers of 28 October have still not been brought to justice.”
Sharply criticising the government, he said: “After the July revolution the expectation was that every mass killing would be tried. But the BNP government has failed to do so. Its actions suggest it has made a pact with fascism. The tune of Awami League fascism and the tune of the BNP government have become one today. The state machinery and the police administration are being politicised as before.”
Criticising remarks by the inspector general of police, he said: “The IGP is again asking for permission for crossfire. That means if you speak out against the government’s irregularities, extortion, tender manipulation or an illegal election, you will be killed in crossfire. There is a plot to bring back that fascist culture.”
He demanded that the killers of 28 October 2006, along with those involved in the killings during the July revolution, be brought to justice quickly and given exemplary punishment.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report