Hasnat Abdullah, NCP’s chief organiser for the southern region and member of parliament for Cumilla-4 (Debidwar), expressed concern over alleged police obstruction of an NCP programme and vandalism of activists’ vehicles in Habiganj. He made the remarks on Sunday afternoon during an exchange with local journalists at the inspection room of Debidwar উপজেলা Parishad’s old building.

Abdullah said his party had expected the political culture of suppressing opposition parties through force to change after the election. Instead, he said, an elected government had unexpectedly chosen the same path of using force against the opposition, calling it deeply regrettable and unacceptable. He said political disagreement can exist in a democratic state.

He said obstructing an opposition party’s programme in this way was not acceptable, alleging that police had been used to block the NCP event in Habiganj and that activists’ vehicles had been vandalised repeatedly. He said such incidents would be viewed negatively for BNP politically. Separately, he said municipal taxes may be collected from CNGs and autorickshaws in Debidwar, but no money may be collected beyond authorised rates or as extortion.