A total of 155 university teachers and other professionals have protested BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi’s “wholesale assertion without any substance” against noted human rights activist Sultana Kamal and prominent historian Muntassir Mamoon.
“Rizvi’s comments regarding Sultana Kamal and Mamoon are baseless and offensive. We demand he take his statements back. We also urge the government to take legal steps against the BNP leader for propagating falsehood,” said a press release.
Tough days have elapsed no BNP leaders have come up with any apology and this pattern is really alarming considering dismal record of the party when it ruled in league with Jamaat, added the release.
The statement added that Rizvi has attacked Kamal and Mamoon because they do not believe in BNP’s version of the truth.
Professor Md Roshidul Hasan, president of One Bangladesh, a platform of academics and professionals signed the statement with names of other teachers attached.
“Through Rizvi’s statements, nothing but his ignorance and his party’s intolerant character have been exposed. We want to point out the incidents of gross human rights violations during BNP’s 2001-2006 rule. It was under BNP rule that incidents like simultaneous bomb explosions in 63 districts and the stabbing of writer Humayun Azad had happened. Rizvi should remember the past record of his party when talking about someone else’s stance regarding human rights,” the statement added.
Equating those crass remarks as “hate campaign” the statement also highlighted the violence and political upheavals that happened during the last time BNP was in power.
“During BNP’s rule, writers, diplomats and political opponents were mercilessly killed and wounded. People who had opposed the independence struggle of Bangladesh were made ministers. BNP even forged a political coalition with a fundamentalist, extremist party like Jamaat-e-Islami. We wonder how Rizvi can point finger at a tested human rights defender like Sultana Kamal while representing a party like BNP,” added the statement.
On October 5, Rizvi at a program said that Sultana Kamal and Mamoon are not working for the rights of the people, rather they are implementing agendas of a certain quarter.
“You have disregarded the sovereignty of this nation. You’ve become slaves and are just obeying the orders of a certain political party. To be specific, you’re ensuring the rights of the ruling Awami League through your efforts,” said Rizvi.
On October 2, Sultana Kamal was quoted by India Today, saying that BNP has damaged its reputation with inaccurate information on the human rights situation in Bangladesh.
She had also demanded prompt actions against the party, in retaliation to which Rizvi made the comments.
Among the signatories on the statement are vice chancellors of universities and prominent educationists of the country.
