BNP blames govt for ‘obstructing’ its reorganisation process

Dhaka, Sept 13 (UNB) – BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Friday alleged that the government is creating obstacles to their party’s reorganising process by not allowing it to hold its councils at the grassroots level.

“We’re not allowed to do politics. We’re trying to hold councils at the district and upazila levels to reorganise our party, but we’re not getting permission for it as the government is obstructing the process,” he said.

Mosharraf, a BNP standing committee member, said a Dhaka court issued an injunction on holding the council of their party’s student body Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) which was scheduled to be held on Saturday. “We’re trying to overhaul our party and its associate bodies in a democratic manner, but the government is trying to hamper our democratic practice.”

He came up with the comments while speaking at a sit-in programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club arranged by Swadhinata Forum, demanding BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s release from jail.

On Thursday, a court here issued an ad-interim injunction on holding JCD’s council as its former assistant religious affairs secretary Md Aman Ullah Aman filed a case seeking a permanent injunction on it.

Mosharraf said JCD’s council was obstructed as part of blocking the democratic process in the country.

He said the government has kept Khaleda Zia in jail with an ‘ulterior motive’. “Khaleda Zia is the first female Prime Minister of the country who freed the country from the grasp of autocratic ruler HM Ershad and established parliamentary democracy. She is also the symbol and mother of democracy.”

He said it is Awami League which had introduced one-party Baksal rule by annihilating democracy in 1975 while BNP founder Ziaur Rahman established multiparty democracy. “Awami League had no existence when Ziaur Rahman introduced multiparty democracy.”

The BNP leader said Awami League stayed in power by ‘resorting to vote robbery’ on the night of December 29 as the party does not believe in democracy. “Awami League has kept our leader (Khaleda) in jail to hold such a unilateral election.”

Mosharraf said widespread corruption is now everywhere as the government has no control over the administration and state institutions.

He said the scams like pillow and curtain-related ones would not have taken place had the government had control over the state institutions. “Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said resorting to corruption in buying pillow and curtain is a parochial activity. With such a remark, he admitted that the government is involved with bigger corruption than this.”

The BNP leader alleged that the ruling party leaders are siphoning off their ‘ill-gotten’ money abroad and making their second homes in different countries out of their fear of losing power.

“The national economy has been in a very bad shape due to plundering and corruption. Many banks have become bankrupt. The government has no enough money in the coffer to run the country. That’s why they’re imposing tax and VAT on people in many mays,” he observed.

Mosharraf also criticised the government’s move to collect toll from vehicles that run on highways though those were constructed with taxpayers’ money. “The national exchequer has got so depleted that the government now needs to collect toll from highway vehicles.”