The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday demanded that punitive action be taken against the Election Commission (EC) secretary, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner and two others senior government officials for, what the party claims, their confusing speeches, which allegedly fuelled a clash during the distribution of the party’s nomination papers in the capital.

The two others officials are the joint secretary of the EC and the deputy commissioner of the DMP’s Motijheel division The BNP also said it would seek legal action if no step was taken against those persons. When asked, EC secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said if any allegation is made against any EC official, the matter would be investigated and steps would be taken.

A BNP delegation, led by its joint secretary general Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, submitted a letter, signed by party secretary general Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir, to chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda and Helal Uddin Ahmed at their respective offices in the Nirbachan Bhaban.

The letter says that the EC had hastily announced the election schedule on November 9. Soon after that, the ruling Awami League (AL) started distributing nomination papers by obstructing roads in front of its party office from November 9 to November 12, resulting in traffic jams and public suffering.

“We felt assured when the EC secretary said the incident did not amount to a violation of the electoral code of conduct and described it as a festive environment,” the letter states.

The EC’s directives to maintain the electoral code of conduct on November 13 hampered people’s participation including that of party leaders and workers, it notes.

The controversial speeches of EC secretary Helal Uddin and DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia fuelled the clash in front of the BNP central office, the letter claims.

It also says that no violence had occurred on November 12 and 13 despite unprecedented public gathering before the BNP party officer. “So, why had such terror incidents taken place on November 14?” adds the letter. After the announcement of the election schedule, the BNP was carrying out peaceful political activities, but the EC’s letter instigated the filing of cases against innocent leaders and workers. The letter said police filed three cases over the Paltan clash and arrested 70 BNP men, of whom 38 were under remand.