The acting secretary-general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, has called upon his party activists to organise a strong anti-government movement, so that the ruling Awami League (AL) is forced to hold the next general elections under the oversight of a non-party caretaker government (CG). “Please wake up with the political spirit of our party founder, Shaheed president Ziaur Rahman, and enforce a tough anti-government movement, paving the path for holding the next general elections under a CG’s oversight,” he said.
“We are heading towards waging a tough anti-government campaign, to press home the demand for a CG. We have to win in this movement for the sake of democracy and independence,” he added.
Alamgir was addressing a discussion meeting held to mark the 32nd death anniversary of the party’s founder, late president Ziaur Rahman, at the Engineers’ Institute of Bangladesh, in the capital, on Saturday afternoon.
Alamgir criticised Premier Sheikh Hasina for her firm stance against the CG management and said the country’s democracy has been gagged as a result of the Premier’s falsehoods.
“Now our Prime Minister is saying that she does not want to bring any unelected person back to state power, even though all sorts of activities of the previous caretaker government had been legalised by her,” he said. “Our Premier is spreading lies and misleading the people by making irrelevant speeches over the CG issue,” he added.
Alamgir said Awami League introduced one-party BKSAL rule after the country’s independence and gagged the voice of the mass media and imposed restrictions on political activities.
“The same thing has been done by Premier Sheikh Hasina. People of all classes have to be united under the leadership of the party chief Khaleda Zia, to force the government to meet our demand for restoration of the CG,” he said.
Moudud Ahmed, another standing committee member of the party, said the government is staging a drama over the homecoming of Tarique Rahman.
“Tarique Rahman will return home without any intervention of the Interpol, and lead the nation in future,” he said.
He has criticised the home minister for seeking intervention of the Interpol, and said it has no legal rights to nab Tarique Rahman, as he has been undergoing treatment abroad, on the basis of the bail granted by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, during the previous CG’s tenure.
“The government will be forced to restore the CG provision to the Charter,” he said.
BNP vice-chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka said Tarique Rahman will not be brought back, during the present tenure of the Awami League-led Grand Alliance government.
“The country’s judiciary is be regulated by the government’s directives. There is no rule of law and democracy in the country. We don’t want to bring Tarique Rahman back in this circumstance,” he added.
Terming Quamrul Islam, the state minister for legal affairs, as indecent, he said several ruling party leaders are making indecent remarks to tarnish the political image of the family members of Ziaur Rahman.
-With The Independent input
