Stand by us or face strikes, Tariqul tells business

A senior BNP leader has urged the business community to pressurise the government for restoring the caretaker government during national polls.

BNP Standing Committee Member Tariqul Islam said during the party’s “human chain” in Dhaka that the business community must push the government to bring back the caretaker system to ensure a free and fair poll to the parliament.

“Businesspeople and the civil society members often seek an alternative to strikes. We want them to create pressure on the government to restore the non-party government system, that is the demand of the people,” Islam said.

”Otherwise,” he warned, “Please don’t blame us if we intensify our agitations in the future.”

He claimed tens of thousands have joined the “human chains” across Bangladesh’s many cities including Dhaka where party supporters created a “human chain” over 18 kilometres from Mohakhali to Old Dhaka.

The BNP leader said this huge turnout of people at the “human chain” was an expression of no-confidence in the ruling government. “The government should understand what the graffiti and the people are saying. The people have said ‘No’ to the government.”

Tariqul Islam said the BNP would not accept any election with the present government in power. “We won’t let any election happen without a non-partisan government.”

Source: Bdnews24