Dialogue with BNP a must: Fakhrul

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Star file photo

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said dialogue must be held with his party for immediate inclusive national polls.
“Otherwise, the ruling Awami League will pay a heavy price which has been given in the past,” the BNP leader warned while addressing a press briefing held at the party chairperson’s Gulshan office in Dhaka this evening.
If the dialogue was not held with BNP countrymen will be held hostage by confrontations, he added.
About the government stance over Latif Siddique’s removal from the cabinet he said the nation has become frustrated and disappointed due to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s inaction over the issue.
The nation expected that the government stance over Siddique’s removal would have been cleared soon after PM’s arrival but it was not done so deliberately, he alleged while reacting to PM’s press brief this afternoon.
“Even, there is no clear indication in her speech of action against Siddique,” he said.
The PM has said she would take measures in accordance with rules of business of her government while the countrymen are demanding punishment to Siddique in line with the existing law.

Hasina in her speech said that, “It is not the government or the country, but Latif Siddique, who is in trouble for his inconsiderate remarks, which hurt the people’s religious sentiment.”
Fakhrul criticised the PM for such remark and said according to a parliamentary democracy, Hasina shoulders responsibility of any such comments made by her cabinet members.
So the PM cannot avoid her responsibility in this manner, he added.
Referring several comments on media talk shows, Fakhrul said a seven-year jail is given if anyone speaks against the PM.
“But no legal measures have yet been taken against any one for making derogatory remarks against our Prophet Mohammad (pbuh),” he claimed.

Source: The Daily Star