Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif has said there cannot be any dialogue between the Awami League and the BNP until Khaleda Zia apologises to citizens for burning so many people during last year’s post-January 5 blockade.
Rejecting the BNP chairperson’s latest call for a dialogue to resolve the prevailing political crisis, he said: “She [Khaleda] is talking peacefully now. But she did not say sorry to the families of burn victims and the 147 people who were killed in arson attacks carried out under Khaleda Zia’s orders.
“At first, BNP chief Khaleda Zia should apologise to the victims and their families, then we [Awami League] will think about having talks with them. Our decision will also depend on public opinion,” he told a press conference wednesday following a meeting of the ruling party’s central leaders at Awami League president’s Dhanmondi political office.
On Tuesday, speaking at a rally in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan headquarters, Khaleda called upon the government to hold talks to work together for the restoration of democracy in the country.
But Hanif alleged that the BNP chief was simultaneously proposing dialogue as well as conspiring with their foreign masters against the government.
Reply to a separate query about the Supreme Court decision to uphold war criminal Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami’s death sentence, Hanif said the Awami League was satisfied with the decision.
Commenting on today’s hartal by Jamaat, he added that the government and the people would not tolerate any subversive acts to save war criminals.
Meanwhile, Awami League meeting also decided to reschedule a rally planned at Suhrawardy Udyan to mark the homecoming day of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The date was changed from January 10 to January 11 so that it does not coincide with the Akheri Monajat or concluding prayers of Bishwa Ijtema.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
