Senior Joint Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, has dismissed reports of party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir being harassed at John F Kennedy Airport in New York as “completely false and baseless.”
Speaking to journalists after paying tribute at the grave of former President Ziaur Rahman alongside newly elected leaders of the Pirojpur District unit BNP, Rizvi said, “There was no attack on our Secretary General. The reports being spread are part of a smear campaign.”
Rizvi’s comments follow an incident on Monday afternoon (local time) at John F Kennedy Airport, where members of the Awami League’s overseas wing allegedly attacked leaders of the Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP), one of three political parties invited by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to accompany him to the UN General Assembly session in New York.
Referring to the incident, Rizvi accused the interim government of failing to ensure security and allowing “fascist allies of the regime” to act with impunity abroad. “Had the interim government performed its duties effectively, these elements wouldn’t have dared to stage such attacks,” he said.
He also reiterated that the BNP has no ties to those aligned with the Awami League. Calling the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government a “symbol of fascism and oppression,” Rizvi claimed that conspiracies to destroy the country are being hatched from abroad.
On the issue of corruption, Rizvi further criticised the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), saying it has failed to recover embezzled funds or hold looters accountable. “The ACC remains ineffective in ensuring justice or repatriating stolen assets,” he alleged.
Rizvi concluded by invoking the memory of July’s martyrs, urging that “their sacrifices must not go in vain.”
