EDITORIAL
Rearrest of BNP men
Government policy flawed
THE police on Friday rearrested 53 mid-ranking BNP leaders no sooner than they were released on bail after more than two months of incarceration. The charges on which they have been rearrested are not known.
It is a disquieting development. In a volatile political environment, arrest and re-arrest of the BNP leaders and members of its various cadres cannot but raise questions about the intention of the government.
Not only its rank and file, it was startling that some of the senior leaders, including BNP's acting secretary general had also been arrested, and some of them remain in custody still. The charges levelled against them were extremely shoddy if not absurd. Clearly, it is not so much the rule of law that the government wants to uphold as it is to keep under constant harassment its main political opponent.
One would like to ask what the government is trying to achieve through this tactic. Is to coerce the BNP into submission, to retract its political stand and fall in line? When the public is hoping for a rapprochement between the two major parties and an end to the stifling situation through dialogue, the government policy will be least bit helpful in creating the congenial atmosphere that is so hopelessly missing. But even more dangerous is the ominous prospect that with the large number of BNP cadres and senior leaders under custody the main opposition party will become virtually dysfunctional. Such a situation can hardly fit the definition of democratic dispensation.
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