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The Bangladesh interim government has condemned the attack on information and broadcasting adviser Mahfuz Alam in London.

The CA press wing issued a statement in this regard on Saturday. 

‘As information and broadcasting adviser Mahfuz Alam left a SOAS-University of London programme marking the first anniversary of Bangladesh’s July uprising, a group of demonstrators threw eggs at Bangladesh High Commission vehicles and briefly tried to block their path. London’s Metropolitan Police intervened effectively; reports indicate Alam’s car was not in the cars struck,’ reads the statement.

‘Press Secretary of the Chief Adviser Shafiqul Alam publicly condemned the attempted harassment. The Government condemns this latest attack with the same conviction that our government, the people of Bangladesh and the authorities of both host countries stand on the side of civilised values, while the thugs inhabit the world of barbarism and bullying,’ the statement adds.

'The Bangladesh High Commission said police were in constant contact and assured ‘full security’ for the adviser during his engagements. The incident in London follows an attack on Alam a couple of weeks ago while he was on government business in New York. During an event at Bangladesh’s Consulate General, protesters threw eggs (and, per multiple accounts, bottles) and smashed glass doors; the mission subsequently wrote to local authorities, including the State Department’s local office, seeking action,’ says the statement.

‘This pattern of conduct has no place in any democracy that values argument over aggression and debate over thuggery. As we said after the attack in New York, violence is not protest; intimidation is not free speech. Those words apply with full force in London as they did in New York. We reaffirm the principle we asserted after the New York incident: fundamental freedoms of speech, assembly and peaceful protest are cornerstones of democracy – but they must be exercised with responsibility and respect,’ adds the statement.

The government urges the London Metropolitan Police to complete a full investigation, using available footage to identify individuals who committed offences (vandalism, assault, obstruction) and bring them to justice; urges political leaders and community organisers to publicly and unequivocally repudiate violence and intimidation in the diaspora, whatever their factional loyalties, and affirms the right to peaceful protest – and the equal right of officials, students and citizens to speak and assemble without fear.