The BNP on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit office and the Election Commission (EC) to postpone the poll to resolve the political crisis.
The call by BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came at a press meet at the party’s Naya Paltan office here on the first day of the opposition’s 48-hour countrywide blockade programme.
Rizvi took umbrage over education minister Nurul Islam Nahid’s comment that the opposition had created panic among the people and affected the fate of 30 lakh students by resorting to destructive activities. “You (Nahid) should ask the PM to step down and the EC to postpone the parliamentary poll in the greater interest of holding an inclusive general election. All crises will be resolved if Sheikh Hasina gives up power,” he said.
The BNP leader said the government had made a blunder by ignoring the people’s demand for election under a non-party administration. “The schedule for the 10th parliamentary polls has been announced only to implement the ruling Awami League’s plan to reintroduce its one-party BKSAL rule. But the government’s ploy will be foiled by a mass movement,” he added. Rizvi clarified that top BNP leaders, including Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, have not gone into hiding. “They have taken a strategic stance to gear up for the anti-government movement. We are in constant communication with them while carrying out our agitation,” he said.
Rizvi also accused government forces of unleashing unabated violence that killed three BNP activists and injured around 1,100 people during the opposition movement on Tuesday.
Around 400 opposition leaders and activists were arrested from different parts of the country and police have lodged cases against 4,000 leaders and activists of the 18-party alliance, he said.
Earlier, Rizvi blamed the EC for announcing a ‘unilateral’ polls schedule. “The announcement of the schedule for the 10th parliamentary polls has pushed the country into a politics of confrontation. Rejecting the polls schedule, people are carrying out a countrywide blockade programme with great enthusiasm,” the BNP leader said.
“In line with government directives, the EC has announced the polls schedule. The government has also let loose its police force to carry out a killing mission to weaken the anti-government movement,” alleged Rizvi.
He also claimed that members of law enforcement agencies have been turned into musclemen of the government. He urged them to discharge their duties upholding their professional code of conduct. “The BNP is preparing a list of law enforcers, including policemen, who are over-enthusiastic in carrying out repression on opposition supporters. They must stand trial if the BNP is voted to power,” he warned.
-With The Independent input
