Pushing activists towards violence is deplorable: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud has said that pushing party leaders and activists towards violence is deplorable.

The minister made the comment about the death of a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader in Panchagarh, while speaking to journalists at his ministry’s conference room at the Secretariat on Monday.

Saying that the man had died of a heart attack, Hasan Mahmud, also Joint General Secretary of Awami League (AL), added, “I’m saddened by the news of Abdur Rashid’s demise. But he was a heart patient and died of a sudden attack, not during the BNP-Police clash.

“But BNP leaders pushed their party activists to become violent over the issue, which is bad politics. Violent politics doesn’t bring any good for the country and BNP should quit this path.”

Replying to a question, the minister added that AL wants to strengthen the country’s democracy by fair and peaceful elections.

“BNP leaders know that they’ve moved away from the people, and that’s why they are afraid of taking part in the elections. The government can’t do anything about it. A party which was formed in an undemocratic way can’t place their trust on democratic principles,” he added.

The minister further said that AL wants BNP to take part in the next general election with full force.

“We want to win the game of politics by playing the election round, not by walkovers. I hope if BNP takes part in the election and we can compete with them properly, we’ll be able to crush them as we did in 2018,” Hasan said.