The BNP is not giving a reaction, for now, to the verdict that revoked registration of its key partner Jamaat-e-Islami with the Election Commission.
The High Court on Thursday ruled that Jamaat’s charter contradicts Bangladesh’s Constitution.
In response, the Jamaat has announced lockdown and demonstrations to protest the verdict.
Senior BNP leaders, however, decided to stay mum on the matter.
bdnews24.com tried to reach seven of the party’s Standing Committee members on Thursday but none of them agreed to speak on the issue.
Rafiqul Islam Mia kept would only say that “the issue is sub-judice” while Gayeshwar Chandra Roy in his ‘personal opinion’ said the only EC could “decide such matter, not the court”.
BNP’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was also quiet when approached.
Journalists had no comment from the BNP spokersperson on the issue as he skipped an iftar at a city restaurant on Thursday.
Opposition chief Khaleda Zia is away in Saudi Arabia performing Umrah.
The BNP leaders said comments will be available only after discussion with her.
A central leader of the party, seeking anonymity, told bdnews24.com: “The party high command has advised us not to make any comment now.”
The BNP is not giving a reaction, for now, to the verdict that revoked registration of its key partner Jamaat-e-Islami with the Election Commission.
The High Court on Thursday ruled that Jamaat’s charter contradicts Bangladesh’s Constitution.
In response, the Jamaat has announced lockdown and demonstrations to protest the verdict.
Senior BNP leaders, however, decided to stay mum on the matter.
bdnews24.com tried to reach seven of the party’s Standing Committee members on Thursday but none of them agreed to speak on the issue.
Rafiqul Islam Mia would only say that “the issue is sub-judice” while Gayeshwar Chandra Roy in his ‘personal opinion’ said the only EC could “decide such matter, not the court”.
BNP’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was also quiet when approached.
Journalists had no comment from the BNP spokersperson on the issue as he skipped an iftar at a city restaurant on Thursday.
Opposition chief Khaleda Zia is away in Saudi Arabia performing Umrah.
The BNP leaders said comments will be available only after discussion with her.
A central leader of the party, seeking anonymity, told bdnews24.com: “The party high command has advised us not to make any comment now.”
The Jamaat, which opposed Bangladesh’s independence and collaborated with the Pakistani military, forged alliance with the BNP after the Awami League formed government in 1996.
Before that, the Jamaat helped the BNP, which was founded by Liberation War Sector Commander Ziaur Rahman, to form government in 1991 when it had 18 seats in Parliament.
But later the party joined forces with the Awami League and waged a movement against the BNP for a polls-time non-party caretaker government.
The Jamaat won only three constituencies in 1996 after contesting the elections independently and in the following balloting held in 2001 it secured 17 seats after forging an alliance with the BNP.
The party also joined the government with the BNP and secured two Cabinet posts for its top leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, both accused of war crimes perpetrated during the 1971 Liberation War.
The International Crimes Tribunal awarded death penalty to Mujaheed and is trying Nizami.
The Jamaaat contested the 2008 parliamentary polls with BNP but fared poorly, taking only two seats.
The party went for a series of political programmes following the start of the war crimes trials but its ally BNP maintained a distance from them saying they were Jamaat’s ‘own’ programmes.
The BNP is following the same strategy following the latest High Court verdict.
Its leader Rafiqul Islam Mia told bdnews24.com: “An appeal has been filed against the High Court verdict. So it’s a sub judice matter. Making any comment at this stage will not be fair.”
However, the BNP has been questioning the standard of the trials at the International Crimes Tribunal.
Source: Bd news24
