Opposition BNP on Thursday threatened to intensify the 18-party’s ongoing movement to force the government to hold the next polls under a non-party government.
“The government’s departure bell has started ringing the way our movement is moving ahead with a breakneck pace. The movement will be strengthened further with harsher programmes,” said BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
Addressing a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office about the 3rd day of the BNP-led 18-party’s 71-hour rail-road-waterway blockade, the BNP leader came up with the remarks.
Rizvi once again called upon the government to take steps for resolving the ongoing political crisis through talks, shelving its plan for holding a unilateral election.
“I would like to tell the government there’s still time. Take initiatives for a dialogue turning back from the path of bloodshed and disaster, stop the acts of sabotage across the country by the ruling party cadres and restore peace and relief for people,” he added.
The BNP leader harshly criticised the Election Commission and termed it a salve of the government for announcing the election schedule to arrange a lopsided election.
“The Commission by announcing the election schedule stopped the path of compromise between the government and the opposition and ignited chaos and anarchy. No free, fair and credible election is possible under it,” Rizvi said.
He also alleged that the EC is working like a devoted worker of the ruling party. “The country’s people burst into anger against this puppet commission.”
Rizvi said the law enforcers are harassing the opposition leaders and activists and their family members by raiding their houses.
He condemned the alleged the attack on the Chittagong house of BNP leader Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury in the name of police raid and arrest of opposition leaders, including Chittagong divisional BNP organising secretary Golam Akbar Khandaker.
Rizvi claimed that an opposition activist was killed in firings by law enforcers during the third day of the 18-party’s 71-hour blockade.
Besides, he said, police arrested over 350 opposition activists across the country during the hartal hours, while more than 900 were injured in attacks by law enforcers and ‘ruling party cadres’.
Over 6,000 opposition men were implicated in fresh ‘false’ cases, he further claimed.
Rizvi said at least nine opposition leaders and activists were killed and over 3,000 injured during the three-day of the blockade from Tuesday to Thursday 4pm.
On Monday, the BNP-led 18-party alliance enforced a 48-hour rail-road-waterway blockade from 6am on Tuesday, protesting the announcement of the election schedule by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad announced for the national election.
Later on Wednesday, the opposition alliance extended the 48-hour countrywide blockade up to 5:00am on Friday protesting what he said killings of the opposition activists and repression on them during the two-day blockade programme.
Source: UNBConnect
