Ershad: JaPa to launch agitation against government

Jatiya Party (JaPa) Chairman HM Ershad yesterday said his party will launch a movement against the government as it has “failed to meet the needs of the people.”

“The government has no right to hold state power as it has failed to meet the needs of its people. If needed, we will take the movement to the streets to establish the rights of the people,” Ershad warned the government while addressing a views-exchange meeting with Shariatpur district JaPa leaders at his Banani office in the capital.

The former military dictator said: “Abductions and killings have branded this country as a disgraced country. No one knows who or when one will be abducted or killed.

“I will rage a movement against such abductions, killings to free the countrymen from the misrule of this government.

“Those who say that a Tk4,000 crore loan scandal is not significant, they have no right to stay in power,” he added.

Terming himself as the father of the country’s private sector, he also said: “Awami League and BNP made no progress in the county. The country had been progressing  due to the private sector.”

Ershad, however, claimed his movement will not be like that of BNP-Jamaat, who he alleged tend to kill citizens, members of law enforcement and vandalise public property.

“They [Awami League, BNP, Jamaat] had raged movements in Dhaka. I could have held state power if I wanted to, but I only chose to step down because I did not want to kill people,” he said.

However, JaPa Secretary General Ziauddin Bablu failed to confirm whether the JaPa leaders had received any instructions from party chairman regarding the street movements. He said his party would hold a human chain in front of the National Press Club protesting against the Gaza attack.

However, sources inside JaPa told the Dhaka Tribune that the party chairman’s anti-government statements come as an expression of his frustration as he was not given any specific role although the former president was appointed as a special envoy to the prime minister.

“The chairman’s statement comes not only as a protest against the ruling party, but also as an inspiration for party leaders who refrained from joining the January 5 elections as per his command,” said the senior party leader, requesting not to be named.

“As Rowshan Ershad has been the focus of the media after becoming the leader of the opposition in parliament, HM Ershad frequently use such political stunts to draw media attention,” he added.