Terming the present government illegal and isolated, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday demanded a fresh election under a neutral administration as soon as possible.
“There is still time. I call upon this shameless government to leave its lust for power and prove its popularity in fresh polls,” she told a BNP rally in the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan.
“It cannot be a government of the people because people didn’t vote for it. We want to tell the government it doesn’t have any public support … Arrange immediately an election under a non-party administration.”
She said the government was isolated and weak and trying to stay in power by using muscle.
Khaleda spoke for about an hour in the rally organised by her party to “thank people for rejecting the January 5 election”.
Govt illegal, isolated
The gathering was to take place under the banner of the BNP-led 18-party alliance, but the BNP finally held it alone leaving out its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami in the face of strong criticism at home and abroad for its ties with the Islamist party that was involved in recent political violence.
BNP policymakers also requested its alliance partners Khelafat Majlish, Islami Oikya Jote and Jamiate Olamaye Islam — all three Islamist parties — not to attend the rally, according to party insiders.
However, top leaders of Liberal Democratic Party, Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Jatiya Gonotantrik Party, Bangladesh Kalyan Party, Bangladesh NAP and Bangladesh Labour Party, among other allies, were present.
Chiefs of the LDP, the BJP, the BKP and the Jagpa urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to create an atmosphere conducive to resolving the political crisis through talks and holding a free and fair election under a neutral administration.
The BNP chief said their major task at hand is to save the country from the “clutches of the current autocratic and illegal regime, and restore democracy”.
She also came down heavily on Jatiya Party Chief HM Ershad. “If Ershad had really been detained, he would not have gone to the combined military hospital and played golf. It was all a drama.”
Referring to a speech by Awami League chief Hasina at Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong in 1986, she said Hasina there had announced her party wouldn’t join any polls under the Ershad regime, and if any party did so, it would be considered a traitor.
But, Khaleda added, the AL contested the election along with the Jamaat. “And Ershad finally returned Hasina a favour by joining the January 5 polls and the cabinet.”
She also said, “The two autocrats have joined hands to swallow up the country and plunder its wealth.”
Terming Hasina a traitor, the BNP chief said a traitor is always a traitor and can never be a patriot.
She alleged that the present government has resorted to repression, killing and forced disappearance to subdue the opposition.
“They are going to sit in parliament without the opposition … And some clowns, who are not even elected by the people, will be there.”
The BNP chief said the government wouldn’t be able to cling to power forever no matter what tricks it played. “Arrange fresh polls soon upon holding talks.”
Pointing at Hasina’s comment that she wouldn’t budge even an inch from the constitutional framework, Khaleda alleged that the AL chief herself had blatantly violated the constitution.
“The nation is going through a very critical time with the government continuing its repression. People are now fed up and they will oust this repressive government from power very soon,” Khaleda said.
The country is in a bad shape due to the government’s unbridled corruption and misrule over the last five year, Khaleda said.
Khaleda said the BNP, not the AL, is the party of real freedom fighters. “You [the AL men] just crossed the [Indian] border. You didn’t take part in the war.”
She also termed completely false the AL’s claim that militancy would be on the rise if the BNP comes to power.
“It was during your [Sheikh Hasina] government’s tenure when militancy was created in the country. They [the AL] carry out militant activities and then have news reports published saying the BNP are involved in those.”
Khaleda also mentioned the incidents of bomb blasts, including the ones at Ramna Batamul, at an Udichi programme in Jessore and at a church in Gopalganj.
She said militancy would be rooted out and peace would prevail if the AL quits power.
Blaming the AL for the recent spate of violence against the Hindus, she claimed the government carried out the attacks on minorities to divert people’s attention from the “farcical” election.
She alleged that those involved in the attacks haven’t been arrested since they belong to the ruling party.
“The government has failed to ensure their security and bring the attackers to book.”
The BNP yesterday held its first rally since the January 5 election. The party also organised rallies in divisional, district and upazila headquarters.
