In the wake of the recent murder of two foreigners, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has called for a national unity to tackle militancy and extremism in the country.
His Awami League counterpart Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif, however, outright dismissed any such possibility, once again exposing the deep division between the two archrivals.
The killing of an Italian aid worker in Dhaka and a Japanese national in Rangpur in the span of five days has put Bangladesh in an embarrassing situation.
The murders have caused a serious concern among the foreign community living in the country and threaten to take a toll on the country’s economy.
Countries like the UK, Australia and Canada are still advising their citizens to maintain “high degree of cautions” in their travel alerts. Several foreign missions in Dhaka, including the embassies of Japan and Spain, have cancelled their prescheduled programmes “due to unavoidable situation”.
Some potential garment buyers have reportedly postponed their visit to Bangladesh.
Against this backdrop, Fakhrul in his call at the party’s Nayapaltan office yesterday said, “Democracy and national consensus is a must to combat them [militancy and extremism] … An inclusive general election is also needed immediately if we want to reach a national consensus…
“I am urging the government to ignore petty political interests and track down the real perpetrators of the killings of the two foreign nationals.”
Some senior BNP leaders, however, said they were not sure if it was a party decision because they were not consulted about it.
Whatever it is, AL leader Hanif reacted to it sharply, terming the call “ridiculous” and “bizarre”.
He said there was no possibility of forging any sort of unity with the BNP-Jamaat alliance, because it was during the BNP-Jamaat government rule that the country saw the rise of militancy.
“Forging any unity with the BNP is to give rise of militancy anew,” he said.
At a meeting of its Parliamentary Board on Tuesday, the AL blamed the BNP-Jamaat for the killing of Cesare Tavella on September 28 and Kunio Hoshi on October 3. They were shot by unidentified assailants who came on motorbikes in both cases.
On Monday, the cabinet meeting also held the BNP-Jamaat responsible for the murders.
Earlier, Prime Minister and AL chief Sheikh Hasina herself squarely put the blame on BNP-Jamaat.
“They [BNP-Jamaat] must have had a hand in this. There is no doubt about it … We are taking actions … The culprits will definitely be caught and tried,” she told a press conference on Sunday.
On Tuesday, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, PM’s son and also her ICT adviser, claimed to have “information from a reliable source” that the BNP-Jamaat was involved in the two killings.
“They have done this in a desperate attempt to turn foreign governments against our country and destabilize it. This information comes from within the BNP in London,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Therefore, there cannot be any discussion with the BNP over any kind of national unity, AL leaders said, adding that the government had no plan to hold talks with the opposition party.
Contacted, former chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said the government needed to sit with different political parties, professional bodies and civil society dignitaries for creating a national unity to fight militancy and terrorism.
“The government alone will not be able to tackle this issue. A national unity is a must to find ways to uproot militancy from the country,” he told The Daily Star.
Citing the example of India, he said there were sharp differences among the political parties there but they worked together when it came to the national interest.
“There will be differences of opinion and disagreements among political parties. But it would be better if our politicians and other stakeholders can sit together and find a sustainable solution to resolve the issue,” he added.
