Crisis to be resolved on the streets, warns Fakhrul
Opposition BNP on Wednesday alleged that the government is playing hide-and-seek over the next election as it wants to hold unilateral polls under a partisan administration.
“They’re (govt) talking abut holding the polls within a few days, but the Election Commission is yet to announce the polls schedule. They’re not making it clear what will be the nature of the election-time government and how many days parliament will remain functional… it means they’re playing a hide-and-seek game over the whole election procedure,” said BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Addressing a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office about the last day of the 60-hour hartal enforced by the BNP-led 18-party alliance, the opposition spokesman said, “We think the government is behaving irresponsibly in tackling the current political crisis.”
He said the government did not take any positive step towards finding out a reasonable solution to the ongoing political deadlock as they want to hang onto power by any means. “Moreover, they’re creating a smokescreen before the nation to mislead them as their main aim is to hold unilateral polls under a party government.”
Fakhrul said the government will be held cent percent responsible for any kind of violence and the emerging situation if the government does not resolve the crisis shelving its plan for holding the polls under a party government.
The BNP leader also warned the government that the ongoing political crisis will be resolved on the streets if the government goes ahead with its plan for holding a lopsided election stopping the path for dialogue and compromise over the polls-time non-party administration.
He said they will announce their ext course of action very soon to force the government to concede to their demand.
Fakhrul slammed the government for what he said snatching the opposition’s democratic rights to hold rallies and processions in the city by imposing a ban.
He said the ruling party activists are holding meetings and rallies under police shelter while the opposition activists are barred from doing it.
“You’ve asked us to withdraw hartal. Why are we enforcing hartal? We’re enforcing hartal as you’ve snatched our all democratic rights, you don’t allow us to be out there on filed and speak up. You don’t allow us to exercise our minimum democratic rights to take out any procession and stage any rally.”
Fakhrul came down hard on minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta who reportedly told Parliament on Tuesday that Khaleda Zia does not believe in democracy rather she is communal and patronising militancy.
“Desh Netri Khaleda Zia has proved through her actions and words that she is completely non-communal and she has equal respect for all religious communities,” he said.
Mentioning that militancy had emerged and spread during the previous Awami League regime, the BNP acting secretary general said BNP during its last tenure had suppressed militancy with an iron hand and punished the militant kingpins.
The BNP leader said the current regime scrapped the caretaker government system and imposed a ban on rallies and processions as it does not believe in democracy.
He voiced disappointment over the Election Commission’s decision to register BNF as a political party. “This Election Commission has started conspiring against BNP. The Commission has turned into a political instrument of the government’s plot to register a baseless organisation BNF.”
The BNP leader said the Commission has to pay a heavy price if it does not shelve its evil design to register BNF as a political party to mislead BNP supporters.
Fakhrul claimed that people spontaneously took to the streets across the country defying and foiling obstructions and repression by law enforcers and ruling party ‘cadres’ during the hartal hours and made it a complete success.
On behalf of opposition leader Khaleda Zia, he thanked the country’s people, including opposition leaders and activists, for spontaneously observing the hartal.
Fakhrul claimed that a Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Abdus Samad, was killed in Satkhira by the ruling party cadres during the last day of the 60-hour they enforced to force the government to arrange the next polls under a nonpartisan interim government.
Besides, he said, police arrested over 560 opposition activists across the country during the hartal hours, while more than 2,081 were injured in attacks by law enforcers and ‘ruling party cadres’.
The BNP leader further claimed that over 26,100 opposition men were implicated in fresh ‘false’ cases and 34 activists sentenced to different jail terms by mobile courts.
He also said four opposition leaders and activists have been killed and 6,071 injured by law enforcers and ruling party men since November 3.
Source: UNB Connect
