Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that the Awami League government had turned Bangladesh into a ‘deep state’ by using the state machinery to cling to power.

‘They (AL) are using the state machinery, including the law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, and the administration. That means they have already turned Bangladesh into a deep state,’ he said.

Speaking at a human chain programme, the BNP leader also said that Awami League was a terrorist party by birth as it beat its founder and a national leader like Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and drove him out of the party.

‘They (AL) themselves are terrorists. That is why they turned the country into absolutely a terrorist state. Awami League is the party that sustains by resorting to terrorism. There’s nothing but terror in their body language,’ he observed.

BNP’s Keraniganj south unit arranged the programme in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office to protest the attack on party standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy during the party’s sit-in programme at Dholaikhal on Saturday.

About arranging lunch for BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy at the office of the Detective Branch of Police and sending gifts for party leader Amanullah Aman by the prime minister after their detention, Fakhrul said that the government did it to divert people’s attention to a different direction from the movement for the restoration of democracy, voting rights and human rights.

‘The Awami League has become so much bankrupt politically that they have to do these things now and spread videos. Does Awami League know etiquette? They don’t know it. Awami League was never a party of gentlemen. So, there is no reason to expect politeness from them,’ he said.

He said that Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Aman Ullah Aman need not prove their patriotism afresh. ‘They proved their patriotism with their lifelong politics and struggle for democracy.’

The BNP leader said that the government had got scared seeing the gathering of lakhs of people at BNP’s grand rally at Nayapaltan on July 28.

He said that it was Awami League, not BNP, indulging in arson violence. ‘BNP will establish democracy through a justified and peaceful movement.’

Fakhrul called upon the government to step down and dissolve parliament to hold the election under a non-party caretaker government. ‘This is the only way to overcome the crisis.

BNP Joint Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain, BNP Marginal Affairs Secretary Aparna Roy, Dhaka District BNP President Khandaker Abu Ashfaq, Dhaka District BNP Former President Dewan Salauddin and others also spoke at the protest meeting.