Dhaka, Mar 24 – BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday alleged that the ruling party is out to destroy their party’s unity with other parties in a planned way.
Speaking at a discussion, he also warned BNP leaders and activists that they will not be able to oust the current ‘autocratic’ government only driven by emotion without consolidating their party’s unity with other parties and people.
Fakhrul came up with the remarks as some party leaders questioned the justification of forming the Jatiya Oikyafront under the leadership of Dr Kamal Hossain and joining the next 11th parliamentary election under a partisan government.
KM Obaidur Rahman Smriti Sangsad arranged the programme at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, marking former BNP secretary general Obaidur Rahman’s 12th death anniversary.
“The fascist and autocratic Awami League government is trying to spoil the unity of people in a planned way. But we’re determined to cement the unity further as per the directives of our leader (Khaleda Zia),” Fakhrul said.
He said they will work to unite the country’s people to defeat the current ‘despotic’ government. “It’s not possible to win the war only with emotion as unity is necessary for it. We must keep intact people’s unity foiling all plots.”
Explaining the reason behind the formation of Jatiya Oikyafront and their participation in the December-30 polls, the BNP leader said they did it following the directives of Khaleda Zia.
“We joined the election as part of our movement to free people from the misrule of the authoritarian regime as per the directives of our chairperson. We contacted her in jail before the election and she asked us to join the polls and create people’s unity,” Fakhrul said.
Even after the election, he said Khaleda directed them to keep the unity intact.
Pointing at the party leaders who talked about announcing action programmes to have Khaleda freed from jail, the BNP leader said, “You’ve said many things here. But we saw who joined and who skipped the programmes we announced after our leader (Khaleda) had been arrested.”
He also reminded the party leaders that it will not be possible to oust the current government only by delivering speeches in indoor programmes.
As some leaders started shouting demanding action programmes, Fakhrul asked them to come to the stage and say whatever they want. Then, a Dhaka College Chhatra Dal leader asked Fakhrul as to why Jatiya Oikyafront in their announced programmes did not seek Khaleda’s release.
In reply, he urged the party men not to mislead people with false statements as Oikyafront demanded Khaleda’s release in their programmes. “Now our main target is to remove the current fascist regime. But we won’t be able to do that if our unity is harmed.”
Earlier speaking at the programme, BNP vice chairman Shah Moazzem Hossain questioned as to why their party joined the national election without the restoration of caretaker government and release of Khaleda Zia. “We must find out the reason. I’ve many other questions that I’ll raise at the party meeting.”
Without mentioning Dr Kamal’s name, he also questioned the justification of forming the Jatiya Oikyafront under the leadership of an unpopular leader who was defeated to elderly Abdus Sattar with a big margin in a presidential election. “What was wrong to make Fakhrul the leader? We don’t need any other leader when we’ve our leader Khaleda Zia and secretary general Fakhrul.”
Oikyafront leaders ASM Abdur Rob and Mahmudur Rahman Manna joined the programme. Their faces turned red when Shah Moazzem was making such remarks.
