Quader Claims Information Gap In EU Statement

The ruling Awami League general secretary, Obaidul Quader, on Monday (November 6) said that the Eureopean Union's (EU) statement over crackdown on the leaders and activists of opposition political parties, including the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP), had information gap.

'We do not want to condemn their statement as EU is a group of 27 friends of Bangladesh. There is an information gap. We urge them to give statement after crosschecking data and facts,' said Quader while speaking at an event at AL Dhaka district unit office in the capital.

He said that the home ministry had the exact information about the number of arrested opposition leaders and activists.

Quader, also the road, transport and bridges minister, wanted to know whether there was any option without arresting them after killing a policeman.

The European Union has expressed concern over the crackdown on the leaders and activists of opposition political parties, including the BNP, across the country following clashes over BNP’s grand rally in Dhaka on October 28.

High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed the concern on Sunday evening (Bangladesh time) in a post on social media platform X, formerly twitter.

Urging all the parties to refrain from violence, he also called for finding peaceful ways to hold participatory elections.

‘Concerned by the arrest of over 8,000 opposition activists in Bangladesh. Justice must be served in all cases,’ read the social media post.

‘We encourage all parties to refrain from violence,’ it also read.