The BNP’s joint secretary general, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, has made it clear that the resignation of cabinet ministers will not resolve the current crisis. The Opposition will withdraw the hartal only if the Prime Minister resigns. “We will call off the nationwide hartal if Sheikh Hasina resigns to pave the way for dialogue and hold a participatory election under a non-party caretaker government,” he added.
Rizvi also asked members of law enforcement agencies and bureaucrats not to carry out directives of ministers and state ministers, as their tenure has expired according to the Constitution.
Rizvi, who is also the party office secretary, was talking to reporters at the BNP’s Naya Paltan headquarters in the capital on the third day of the nationwide 84-hour hartal on Tuesday.
The ruling Awami League does not have any good intention to hold talks with the Opposition to break the prevailing deadlock, he said. “The government is only interested in implementing its hidden agenda and thwarting the Opposition’s agitation,” he said.
“The Prime Minister herself is playing a dirty game in the name of dialogue,” he said. He slammed the government for being utterly insincere about holding talks and for not taking any initiative in the interest of a free, fair and credible election. “We are for holding a meaningful dialogue, but the government has to take the initiative to make it a success. We will respond positively if any further initiative is taken by the government,” he added.
Later, at a separate press briefing at the same place, Rizvi slammed senior officials as well as members of law enforcement agencies for their “partisan” role and asked them not to be a private force of the Awami League.
According to the Constitution, the cabinet members lost their portfolios when they submitted their resignations to the PM, Rizvi said. “It will be highly unjustified if they continue to enjoy their privileges,” he added.
Rizvi urged the authorities concerned to take legal measures against those who are still enjoying government facilities as minister and state minister. “If senior officials and law enforcers don’t take any measures, it will prove that they have become the private force of the Awami League,” he said.
He urged bureaucrats to ignore directives given by any minister and not sign any file forwarded by a minister.
He also said that if any minister puts the national flag on his/her vehicle, it will be a violation of the Constitution and mean showing disrespect to the flag.
The entire nation is waiting for a fruitful dialogue so that the general election is held in a free and fair manner. But the government keeps on arresting top leaders of the Opposition party to thwart the dialogue, he alleged.
Mass protests against the AL-led ministry have already begun and the country is nearly under the control of hartal supporters. The ruling party will face dire consequences if it goes ahead with its plan of holding a one-sided poll, he warned.
Holding the AL-led ministry responsible for creating violence, he said two hartal supporters were killed and 43,000 were critically injured across the country during the hartal. He said that around 1,710 Opposition party men were arrested from across the country. The police also lodged several cases, implicating at least 17,000 hartal supporters on various charges.
-With The Independent input
