Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique has made it clear to Khaleda Zia that he will not be part of any initiative that has space for Jamaat-e-Islami.
Kader Siddique met the BNP chief at her house in Gulshan on Thursday in response to her invitation to discuss ways to forge a national unity against militancy.
The KSJL leader, who had been very close to the Bangabandhu, says he will not get involved in any conspiracy against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He will rather prevent such plot if he senses any, the politician says.
After the two-hour meeting from 8pm, Kader Siddique told reporters: “I am happy about many things she (Khaleda) said, though we have differing views.”
“But we (he and Khaleda) have fewer differences in views when the issue concerns national interest.”
He, however, clarified he would not be siding with Jamaat. “I want to die with the Bangabandhu’s political ideology.”
But he also said he will not tolerate any insult or conspiracy against Khaleda, the wife of freedom fighter and late president Ziaur Rahman.
Kader Siddique said the details of the meeting and his party’s next course of action will be revealed at a media briefing on Friday.
He was accompanied by his wife and KSJL Presidium Member Nasrin siddique, General Secretary Habibur Rahman and organising secretaries Iqbal Siddique and Shafiqul Islam.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Khaleda invited Kader Siddique for his advice to forge the national unity.
He said Khaleda called for the national unity as the BNP chief, not as the leader of the 20-Party Alliance.
Besides Mirza Fakhrul, BNP Standing Committee Member Tariqul Islam, and Vice-Chairmen Hafizuddin Ahmed and Abdullah Al Noman were with Khaleda in the meeting.
The BNP chief had launched the appeal after terrorists killed at least 22 persons in an attack on a cafe in Gulshan last month.
The Awami League has brushed aside the call, saying a national unity has already been forged and there is no need to include ‘terrorists’ in it, in a veiled reference to deadly protests by BNP and its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami.
Since then, the BNP has been trying to form a new alliance by keeping Jamaat and other Islamist parties out.
It has tapped BKSJL, Ganaforum, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD).
Khaleda has invited the leaders of these parties to tea to discuss ways to create the new alliance.
The BNP formed a four-party alliance with Jamaat before the 2001 general elections.
It became a 20-Party Alliance before the 2014 election.
Source: Bd news24