Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has alleged that the government is employing tactics akin to "medieval period torture" on dissidents to remain in power. The allegation was made in a statement on Sunday.

Fakhrul urged the government to withdraw all cases filed against detained opposition leaders and students and to release them immediately. He claimed that Nurul Haque Nur, the convener of Gonoadhikar Parishad, was tortured during remand.

Three coordinators of the quota reform movement—Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and Abu Baker Mazumder—were reportedly picked up by the Detective Branch (DB) of police from a hospital while undergoing treatment. Fakhrul condemned this act as inhuman and warned that it would only exacerbate the prevailing crisis.

The BNP leader stated that the people of the country are enraged by the government’s repression of opponents, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and violations of fundamental rights over the last 17 years.

Fakhrul criticized the arrest of journalist Sayed Khan, organizing secretary of a faction of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) and correspondent for The Mirror Asia. He accused the government of becoming desperate by filing false cases and arresting courageous writers, intellectuals, and journalists, which he termed a bad example of the government's fascist tendencies.

"We [BNP] call upon the government to stop such terrible arrest games," he said.

The BNP secretary general demanded the immediate release of Nurul Haque Nur, journalist Sayed Khan, BNP leaders and activists, students, and ordinary people. He also condemned the false accusations made by ruling party leaders against BNP's acting chairman Tarique Rahman.