Staff Reporter:
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has strongly denounced the use of arson attacks by any political party as a means of advancing its political agendas or protests.
In a statement, the anti-graft watchdog said the recent horrifying incident, when four innocent people, including a three-year-old child, were killed in an arson attack on a train, arson attacks on public transport, and sabotage on rail tracks, have prompted TIB to vehemently call for an immediate cessation of destructive political maneuvers that result in the loss of innocent lives and state assets.
The tragic incident at Tejgaon rail station in Dhaka, where miscreants set fire to three compartments of Mohanganj Express on Tuesday morning, resulting in the killing of four individuals, including a mother and a young child, is of grave concern, the statement said.
The TIB emphasised that such incidents cannot be isolated, and any arson attacks, sabotage of rail infra-structure, or similar actions in the lead-up to the national parliamentary elections cannot be justified as legitimate expressions of democratic rights or protests.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the act of burning people alive can never be a means of promoting political agenda.
“No political party should use such means at the expense of human lives. It is unjustifiable to try to serve a political purpose capitalizing on violence that kills people,” he said.