No people on streets, AL staging 'lockdown' with AI-generated images: Annie

BNP Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie has alleged that today's "lockdown" programmes announced by the Awami League have no public participation, claiming that the ruling party is instead using AI-generated images to show artificial crowds.

"There is no one in their lockdown. They are creating images with artificial intelligence to stage their lockdown," he said while speaking at a freshers' reception ceremony at Janata Degree College in Lakshmipur Sadar upazila this afternoon (13 November).

The BNP leader alleged that a few unruly, drug-addicted youths are being paid to conduct sudden processions on main roads before dawn, setting fire to buses, taking photographs, and uploading them on Facebook to create a false impression of unrest.

Questioning the reputation of the banned Awami League, the Annie said, "The Awami League of 1947, and its leader Sheikh Hasina — why did they have to flee?"

Criticising ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, he said, ""She was a prime minister who came to power through her own vote — a prime minister of the night, a prime minister of tyranny. Then why did she have to flee?

"She neither practised politics herself nor allowed others to do so. That is why, under the leadership of the BNP, all political parties have united against the Awami League and Sheikh Hasina."

He further said, "Sheikh Hasina once said that those who set fire to buses would be thrown into the fire themselves. But now she is no longer here. Before fleeing, she sent all her relatives abroad."

Annie added that during Hasina's rule, many BNP leaders and activists had faced attacks and cases, while numerous families had suffered from enforced disappearances and killings.

Anee further hoped that the new generation would lead Bangladesh.

"She [Hasina] once claimed she would never flee, yet she did. But this generation has not — they will lead Bangladesh in the days to come," he said.