BNP Acting Secretary General and the Prime Minister's Political Adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has said that banned political groups, both at home and abroad, are weaving various conspiracies, and that the upcoming Sharadiya Durga Puja could be a target of this "evil circle."
He urged people from all walks of life, within the party and outside it, to remain vigilant.
Rizvi made the remarks on Thursday, at around 11 a.m. as chief guest at the annual prize-giving ceremony of Harishkul Begum Hasiba High School in Nawabganj upazila of Dhaka. Upon arriving at the venue, he planted several fruit saplings on the school premises.
"Everyone must remain alert so that no malign force can destroy communal harmony and the peaceful atmosphere," Rizvi said.
He added that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is personally keeping track of arrangements to ensure peaceful Puja celebrations across the country. "Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, we are all determined to work together to move the country forward in implementing the ideals of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman," he said.
The ceremony was presided over by Abu Hasan Khandakar, president of the school's managing committee. Khandaker Abu Ashfaq, president of Dhaka District BNP and Member of Parliament for Dhaka-1, spoke as the main speaker. He said his late cousin, freedom fighter Pokhraj, had founded the institution.
At a time when the union had no school, Pokhraj took the initiative to spread education among the Hindu community, he said. Ashfaq also pledged that development work in the neglected area, including road construction, would be expedited soon.
Chhatra Dal General Secretary Nasir Uddin, also addressing the event, said the student organization must serve as volunteers at every temple across the country during the coming Durga Puja. "They must stay up at night to guard the temples," he said, warning that any failure to do so would lead to organizational accountability.
Others who spoke at the event included Nawabganj Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Masud Rana; former principal Manabendra Dutta; Begum Hasiba High School Headmaster Asaduzzaman; Tahmina Adnan, daughter-in-law of the school's founder; Nawabganj Upazila BNP General Secretary Khandaker Abul Kalam; KP High School president Abu Shafiq Khandaker Masud; its headmaster Md. Shah Alam; former upazila parishad vice-chairman Mohsin Rahman Akbar; and Dhaka District Chhatra Dal General Secretary Shafiqul Islam (Nirob).
Later, Rizvi attended a freshers' reception for Class XI students organized by the Chhatra Dal unit of Joypara College in Dohar upazila.
Addressing the gathering as chief guest, the BNP acting secretary general said Chhatra Dal must identify and shun partisan factionalism, extortion, terrorism and land-grabbing in its activities.
He said the organization should not confine itself to educational institutions but must reach out to ordinary people, building a culture of standing by them in their joys and sorrows.
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