Says Quader
Communications Minister Obaidul Quader has said all the opposition leaders will be released if BNP reaches a consensus with Awami League.
The minister makes the comment at a time when BNP leaders are being arrested and implicated in different cases for killing, vandalism and arson.
“A behind-the-curtain dialogue is going on. If it yields a positive outcome, people of the country will get some respite. And if anything as such happens, the opposition leaders will no longer stay behind bars,” he told a press conference at the secretariat yesterday.
When his attention was drawn to this, Inspector General of Police Hasan Mahmud Khandaker said he had no idea about what the minister said on the release of opposition leaders, and thus, he would not make any comment on this.
He said everything was being done following laws.
When asked why the dialogue was taking place “behind the curtains”, Obaidul Quader said political talks first take place behind the curtains and then they are made public if they yield positive results.
“I hope there will be a positive result but I am not one hundred percent sure,” he told reporters.
While giving an account of losses Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation incurred due to vandalism and arson during the opposition’s blockade, Quader urged BNP to shun the path of destruction and try to reach a consensus with the government.
The minister said BNP made two mistakes– first, they did not participate in the process of amending the constitution and second, they rejected the prime minister’s call for a dialogue.
He hoped BNP would realise its mistakes and make amends in the interests of the people.
Asked whether there was any mistake on the part of the government, he said nobody was above mistakes, but did not mention any.
-With The Daily Star input
