“Opposition activists are being abducted and killed in Lakshmipur and elsewhere. They are being arrested in false cases,” acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a rally on Tuesday.
The meet was held at the National Press Club protesting abductions and killings of BNP leaders and activists, and demanding the release of arrested party men. Fakhrul alleged people were not getting justice in these incidents.The government had turned the country into a terrorist zone by unleashing law enforcers to commit unlawful acts, the BNP leader said.
Fakhrul said the government was not yet sure whether the audio-video message was issued by al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri but the ruling party MPs in Parliament were linking BNP with the terrorist organisation.
He believed it was a ploy to endanger the country’s most popular party.
“The Awami League has long been working to turn Bangladesh into a militant and ineffective state,” Fakhrul said.
He said the Prime Minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy had mentioned in one of his articles that fundamentalists constituted 35 percent of the Bangladesh army.
Fakhrul said the BNP did not believe in terrorism. “BNP is a liberal democratic party. We believe in change of power through fair and peaceful elections.”
The BNP leader lambasted the roles of the government and the Election Commission in the Upazila Parishad polls.
He said the elections would not be fair under the government.
Fakhrul alleged that BNP-backed candidates were being barred from campaigning.
The acting Secretary General also alleged the government was holding the Upazila elections to thwart the anti-government movement.
He described the incumbent Election Commission as being loyal to the government and said a fair election would not be held under the commission.
“By holding a farcical election the government has formed the Parliament with clowns, not public representatives.”
Fakhrul also criticised the move to make Opposition MPs Cabinet members.
He said before the Jan 5 polls the government had said it was holding the election as a constitutional obligation.
They also said that election would be held following discussion with the Opposition but they had backed off after the election, he said.
Now they say they want to stay in power for five years, Fakhrul said.
He said the Awami League had become so crazy that they had to use a trick to cling to power.
“It will not be possible to stay in power forever by playing such tricks,” the BNP leader said.-bdnews24.com
