BNP leader Fakhrul Islam has accused ruling party leader Obaidul Quader of preventing the BNP from organizing Iftar gatherings in Noakhali’s Companyganj for 17 years. He alleged that Quader’s brother, Kader Mirza, used armed forces to enforce this restriction. “Even to hold Islamic sermons, one had to bribe Awami League leaders and the police,” he claimed. Fakhrul further asserted that a new Bangladesh must be free from extortionists, land grabbers, sand thieves, and criminals.