BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has accused some opposition leaders of using indecent language while criticising Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
He made the allegation on Thursday at a discussion organised at the National Press Club to mark the second death anniversary of journalist Ruhul Amin Gazi.
The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) jointly organised the event.
Rizvi said opposition parties had every right to criticise the government and the prime minister strongly, both inside and outside parliament.
“Opposition leaders are making statements attacking the prime minister in indecent language,” he said.
He said the 11-party alliance was opposing the BNP-led government, but the government had repeatedly made it clear that opposition parties could hold political programmes, express their views and criticise the government.
Referring to two long marches organised by opposition parties, Rizvi said the programmes were held without any obstruction.
“If you believe in democracy, you have to allow opposition parties to hold their programmes and speak,” he said.
“Let them speak. There is no problem with that. But our objection is elsewhere,” he added.
Rizvi said freedom of expression in a democracy did not mean that anyone could say anything without restraint.
“Whatever you say, say the truth,” he said.
He said opposition parties could raise different arguments about the country’s political situation, but criticised remarks suggesting that the prime minister would have to decide within a day or two whether to resign.
According to Rizvi, political debate becomes unacceptable when it descends into disrespectful forms of address.
“When it turns into ‘tui-tukari’ (an extremely informal form of address), that becomes the culture of fascism,” he said.
Referring to an opposition leader’s use of such language against the prime minister, Rizvi compared it to what he described as “the culture of Sajeeb Wazed Joy”.
He alleged that Joy had similarly addressed former prime minister Khaleda Zia and said such language had drawn strong criticism from ordinary people.
Rizvi said the BNP had responded because similar behaviour had resurfaced during recent political programmes.
“We have to respond. But our response must not be in the same language used against us. Rather, we have spoken firmly and strongly in a civilised manner,” he said.
He said even strong criticism could be expressed in decent language and claimed that the BNP was trying to maintain that standard.
Rizvi also called for a minimum level of political understanding among the country’s political forces on certain issues, saying such consensus was necessary not only to protect democracy but also to prevent a recurrence of what he called fascism.
“If fascism returns, forget about democracy-there will be no state left,” he said.
