The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Thursday said her party did not want to go to power by enforcing ‘arson and oar-and-scull programmes’ like that of Awami League but with people’s mandate after a democratic movement against the government’s ‘misdeeds’.
But, she warned, her party would give a befitting reply to whatever language the Awami League would use.
Khaleda was addressing a discussion organised by Jatiyatabadi Swechchasebak Dal, volunteers’ wing of BNP, at Mahanagar Natyamancha in the city marking its 32nd founding anniversary.
Referring to the comments of various quarters about the agitation programmes announced by the BNP-led ‘18-party’ alliance, Khaleda said the opposition wanted to convince the people through ‘peaceful’ mass-contact programmes and to go to power with the people’s ‘mandate’ to work for their welfare.
The BNP chief said the government was plotting to foil the movement by detaining opposition leaders and activists and filing ‘false’ cases against them but the ploy would not work.
Khaleda said the BNP had overthrown an autocratic ruler through a mass upsurge in 1990.
Narrating the government’s ‘misdeeds’, ‘failures’ and ‘corruption’, she said the people wanted to get rid of it.
Responding to the government’s allegations of corruption against BNP leaders and the Zia family, she made a counter allegation that prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s family, her cabinet members and other ruling party leaders were involved in corruption.
‘And therefore, the Awami League want to hold the next elections under the party in power to protect it from public wrath,’ she said.
Khaleda iterated that no election would be held under the Awami League government. The election must be held under a ‘non-party neutral’ government and Awami League would be forced to accept the demand, she said.
Khaleda, also the former prime minister, said BNP and its allies wanted to go to power through election under a ‘non-party neutral’ government to ‘establish’ democracy and rule of law, serve the people, reduce unemployment, contain prices of essentials, resolve water-gas-electricity crisis and build up friendship with all countries.
She said BNP wanted to build up good ties with India through settlement of the outstanding issues between the two countries through discussions.
Recalling India’s assistance during Bangladesh’s liberation war, Khaleda said India being a democracy should extend support to democracy.
She said that India should establish relations with the people of Bangladesh, not with a ‘certain individual or party’.
LDP president Oli Ahmed, JAGPA president Shafiul Alam Prodhan and BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Fazlul Huq Milon and Swechchasebak Dal’s founding-convener Kazi Asad, its general secretary Mir Sarafat Ali Sapu and organising secretary Shafiul Bari Babu addressed, among others, the discussion presided over by organisation’s president Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel.
At the beginning, the programme expressed condolences over the deaths of national personalities and leaders and activists of BNP and its front and associate organisations. Special prayers were offered for salvation of the departed souls.
Saiyara Nawal, daughter of the missing BNP leader, M Ilias Ali at the function sought blessings from all for his father.
Swechchasebak Dal organising secretary Shafiul Alam Babu presented the organisational report.
Courtesy of New Age
