India won’t back any oppressing force in Bangladesh: Fakhrul

India, being a friendly state to Bangladesh, will not back any government or force that oppresses people, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today.

“India is not only a neighbor but a friendly state. We will hope that India will stay beside the people of Bangladesh,” Fakhrul told a gathering at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in Dhaka.

Fakhrul came up with the remarks, a day after India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said her government will provide full support to the Sheikh Hasina’s government in its drive against militants.  

He alleged the recent countrywide “wholesale arrests” conducted by the law enforcers are nothing but to divert people’s attention from the government’s failure in curbing secret and targeted killings by militants.  

Out of around 14, 000 arrested during the crackdown, 179 are claimed to be militants, so it is clearly evident that the government has conducted the “wholesale arrests” against opposition party men, Fakhrul claimed.  

BNP organised the gathering as a part of its countrywide protests against the mass arrest what it said of its party supporters by the law enforcers.