Japan envoy meets Mirza Fakhrul in Gulshan party office

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, Ito Naoki, met BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today, a day after some leaders and activists of the party were attacked in Dhaka and Cumilla.

The meeting which started at 10 am at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office ended around 11:30 am.

BNP standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and organising secretary Shyama Obaid were present at the meeting, reports UNB.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Amir Khosru, also convener of BNP's foreign affairs committee, said Bangladesh-Japan relationship is long-standing.

He said they discussed various issues of bilateral cooperation between the two countries alongside the latest political situation in Bangladesh.

Asked whether the latest attacks on BNP leaders and activists came up for discussion, he said, “I have already said we talked about contemporary political issues.”

Last night, some BNP leaders, including standing committee member Selima Rahman, joint secretary general Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, organising secretary Shyama Obaid and executive committee member Tabith Awal, suffered injuries as ruling party activists reportedly attacked a candlelight vigil of the opposition party on Kamal Atartuk Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Dhaka’s Banani.

Tabith, a BNP foreign affairs committee member, was admitted to United Hospital for treatment with a head injury.

Earlier in the day, four people including BNP Vice Chairman Barkatullah Bulu and his wife, were injured in an attack by miscreants at Monohorganj upazila in Cumilla.