Gono Odhikar Parishad President Nurul Haque Nur has rejected the government-issued bodyguards for political figures following the assassination of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Osman Hadi and the subsequent spate of attacks on media and cultural institutions.
Nur revealed the decision while addressing a protest rally held on Monday to mark six years of the attack on Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (Ducsu). Nurul Haque Nur added, “As long as the perpetrators of the attack by the government’s law enforcement agencies in broad daylight in front of my own office are not tried, I reject the gunman provided by the government.”
Earlier, during a press briefing after a meeting of the Law-and-Order Committee Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury had confirmed the matter. He said that the government has decided to provide bodyguards to 20 political figures.
Although the name of Gono Odhikar Parishad President Nurul Haque Nur is on this list of 20 individuals, Nur has rejected the gunman provided by the government.
In his speech, Nurul Haque Nur said, “It is not possible to secure the entire country by providing a gunman to an individual. The administration and law enforcement agencies must be reformed for the security of the people. The situation cannot be normalised by only providing security to election candidates. If the law-and-order situation does not improve and a safe voting environment is not created, voters will not go to the polling centres.”
Mentioning that police and army miscreants had carried out an attack in broad daylight on 29 August this year, Nur further said, “Although a notification was issued on 4 September this year ,forming a judicial committee to publish the investigation report of this attack incident within 30 (thirty) working days, those involved in this attack have not yet been identified and brought to justice. This indicates the tacit support of the interim government regarding that day’s attack.”
Stating that the government is responsible for this incident, Nur said, “Since the attack incident has not been tried, I will hold the Chief Adviser and other advisers responsible. Therefore, by rejecting the gunman, if any kind of attack occurs on me, the members of the current advisory council will have to bear the responsibility,” warned the former DUCSU VP and Gono Odhikar Parishad President Nurul Haq Nur.
