BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday claimed prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in one of his articles claimed that around 35 percent members of Bangladesh Army are militants.
“It’s a deep rooted conspiracy [against the army],” Fakhrul said while addressing a mass campaign programme at Thakurgaon Sadar upazila.
Claiming that Joy on various occasions tried to brand Bangladesh as a militant country, the BNP spokesperson called upon people to come forward to resist such a conspiracy against the country.
According to information available on internet, Sajeeb Wazed Joy with Carl Ciovacco wrote an article titled “Stemming the Rise of Islamic Extremism in Bangladesh” in Harvard International Review published on November 19, 2008
According to the article, Islamic extremism is also on the rise in Bangladesh because of the growing numbers of Islamists in the military. The Islamists cleverly began growing their numbers within the army by training for the Army Entrance Exams at madrassas. —–Before this madrassa Entrance Exam campaign, only 5 percent of military recruits came from madrasses in 2001. By 2006, at the end of the BNP’s reign, madrassas supplied nearly 35 percent of the Army recruits.
Speaking at the mass campaign, Fakhrul said democracy and public life are not safe in the hands of the Awami League-led government.
“Innocent orphan boys were shot dead during a crackdown on a peaceful rally of Hefajat in the dark of night keeping the media away from the scene at the behest of this government. So, democracy and the lives of people aren’t safe in its hands,” he said.
Source: The Daily Star
