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BNP chairperson’s adviser Fazlur Rahman has alleged that “anti-liberation forces” at home and abroad are threatening to kill him, following his recent remarks on the July Uprising.
On Monday, Fazlur said “mob instigators” were threatening to kill him and that they were stationed in front of his rented house in Segunbagicha, bdnews24.com reports.
“Through you, I want the nation to know my life is in grave danger,” he said at a media briefing at the Law Reporters’ Forum office in the Supreme Court annexe.
On Sunday, demonstrators gathered outside his residence demanding his arrest, while others staged protests in his hometown Kishoreganj. At Dhaka University, leaders of Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad burnt his effigy.
Fazlur said people in his constituency Kishoreganj-4 had fallen silent since the protests.
“I am a citizen of this country. Under the Constitution, I have the right to live,” he said.
Asked who the agitators were, he replied: “I don’t know them. They’re just kids. I heard they belong to a student organisation, but not our party’s.”
He claimed the nickname “Fazlu Pagla”, or Crazy Fazlur, was first coined by the Jamaat-e-Islami and later spread by its supporters.
“Now they are shouting: arrest Fazlu Pagla, kill Fazlu Pagla,” he said.
He alleged that YouTubers linked to the Jamaat and based abroad were calling for mob justice.
“Two YouTubers from France openly said I should be killed. Another said I should be slaughtered.”
He dismissed the idea of filing legal cases, saying he would not lodge a general diary. “Death never scares me, but unnatural death is most shameful,” he added.
Controversy erupted after Fazlur told a TV talk show that the Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir were the “dark forces” behind the Aug 5 Uprising. His party later served him a show-cause notice.
On this, he said: “It’s normal. A political party can ask for explanations if it thinks a member has erred.”
Asked if he could not accept the Aug 5 events, he replied: “If they think so, they can file cases or protest against me. But creating mobs in front of my home and calling for my murder -- that is unacceptable.”
He thanked law enforcement for tightening security around his residence after his wife called police. “They responded quickly. I heard even the Army came. I thank them,” he said.