Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad on Saturday claimed that the importance of Jatiya Party in national politics has increased because of its sensible role.
“Jatiya Party’s importance has increased in national politics as we didn’t take any whimsical decision in the past,” he said while addressing a representatives meeting of the party’s greater Dhaka district unit at city’s Banani Rajuk ground.
Ershad rejected the hearsay of a meeting between opposition leader Khaleda Zia and him in Singapore. “It’s baseless…but what’s the fault if any meeting takes place between us? In the present political culture, it’s a fault to see each other face. We’ll have to come out of this culture. Why should I hold a meeting playing hide and seek.”
The former military ruler observed that the politics of vengeance started through oppression on Jatiya Party when the party left power in 1990. “During that five years, we couldn’t hold any rally… even I was not allowed to sit in parliament,” he recalled.
Ershad also said it is the democratic norm that one government will go and anther will come. “Then what’s the reason to be afraid of. The reason is you’re afraid of leaving power due to the politics of vengeance.”|
He lamented that nobody staged protest when he had been sent to jail during two caretaker regimes. “Now it’s being said if a caretaker government comes again, top leaders will land in jail.”
Ershad said the people of the country did not accept when a blogger was given bail for undermining the great Prophet (pbuh) and a Buet teacher was handed seven years’ jail for making derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister.
The Jatiya Party chief attributed the fall of popularity of the present government to terrorism, ransom seeking and tender manipulation by Jubo League and Chhatra League men.
“When I had declared to join the grand alliance, Chhatra League leaders said they would sacrifice their lives for me. But then why have they got derailed? Who are responsible for this?”