On October 29, 2022, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina publicly threatened that she would commit brutalities, as she did to the Hefazat-e-Islam movement in 2013, if the opposition proceeded further with its movement against her regime. On November 2, 2022, she also vowed to incarcerate venerable and popular but ailing opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia if her party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), did not control its anti-government rallies. The law enforcement agencies have been authorized on November 9, 2022 to use all obstructive and lethal measures to stop the opposition movements for democracy and freedom, particularly the final one in Dhaka scheduled for December 10, 2022.
Encouraged by the US-led international pressures for a credible, free and fair election in Bangladesh, the (BNP), the largest opposition party, has held 9 rallies so far across the country demanding immediate termination of the unelected and authoritarian regime. The BNP and other opposition parties demand holding elections under a neutral authority. The public response to the gathering has been overwhelming, despite various blocking tactics by the government. On the concluding December 10 rally scheduled in Dhaka, it is feared that the government will authorize the use of extreme violence on innocent civilians to thwart the peaceful assembly. There could be huge fatalities if the regime is not checked in advance.
CHRD Bangladesh is profoundly concerned about the loss of life, violence, unjustified arrests and the regular practice of punitive actions taken by the ruling regime against people utilizing their constitutional rights for democracy and freedom.
The United States State Department is consistent in its message to the Bangladesh authorities regarding the necessity of a democracy to have free and fair elections, the right to peaceful assembly of opposition parties, the right of freedom of expression and speech and the right to choose leaders.
CHRD Bangladesh once again urges the US administration to kindly exert its influence on the ruling regime to desist from preventing the democratic and political rights of the people, as well as committing any atrocities against those demonstrating.