BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has alleged that the Comilla incident is a strategy of the government to take the focus away from countless problems the country is facing.
He was speaking on Thursday at an event to mark the 11th founding anniversary of the Jatiyatabadi Samabaya Dal at the Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium.
“Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony. We have been living here peacefully for thousands of years. This has been done to divert attention from the original crisis,” he said.
The BNP leader said the main crisis in Bangladesh is the state of its democracy and freedom of expression.
The government perpetrated the Comilla incident to destroy communal harmony and stability of Bangladesh, Mirza Fakhrul alleged.
He condemned such a heinous incident and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.
On Wednesday, tension erupted among a section of locals in Comilla after news broke on social media about an alleged besmirching of the Holy Quran at a Durga Puja venue.
At one stage, the situation began getting out of hand and trouble started spreading to a number of puja venues in the adjacent areas. The local administration and police came under attack while trying to restore order.
Later in the afternoon, RAB and BGB troops were deployed to bring the situation under control.
In an emergency notice later in the day, the Religious Affairs Ministry said it had come across news that the central religious text of Islam had been allegedly disrespected in Comilla.
Following the incident in Comilla, there were various reports of vandalism in Chittagong, Chadpur, Gazipur, and Bandarban.
The government on Thursday deployed members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in 22 districts across the country to maintain law and order.
