DHAKA: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to give up the politics of violence amid the incidents of buses being torched in Dhaka during the by-elections.
Replying to a point of order in Parliament on Monday, Hasina said: "BNP MP Harun-ur Rashid spoke about the polls. My question is, do they even participate in the elections? They take nominations but do not campaign. They don't even appoint polling agents in the voting centres on election day. They lost the support of the people long ago. Terrorism, murder, violence against women - there is nothing they have not done."
Hasina also asked the BNP to stop spreading rumours, saying people will not accept them, nor would they believe them.
She made the remarks after Rashid alleged that the government was oppressing BNP leaders by falsely implicating them in cases of arson attacks. So far, 47 people have been nabbed in 16 arson cases on Dhaka transportation. (IANS)