"Dissent under threat"

It is sad that the BNP goons are acting this way under the watch of the party which led our democratic struggle against Ershad's dictatorship in the 1980s when goons of the party in power at the time did exactly what these BNP goons are doing now. The BNP leadership should know that the tactics of these people who are trying to stifle democratic dissent this way cannot succeed for the same reasons it did not succeed when Ershad tried the same. In fact, wherever this has been tried, the result has been the reverse; the dissent far from dissipating, has emerged stronger. With the main opposition the Awami League now favouring constitutional politics, the BNP needs to play the role of the facilitator in making the democratic process stronger by encouraging legitimate dissent like the one the Bikalpadhara was engaged in. The BNP goons have been acting in a manner detrimental to conducting politics in a peaceful way for a long time. They are not aware that what they do only makes it difficult for the government to conduct its business properly and affects their interest more than those whose voices they try to stifle.