BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday alleged that the government is trying to use ‘false and ghostly cases’ as its main weapon to keep BNP and its alliance away from the next election.
“The government is filing ghostly cases against our leaders and activists.Around 4,500 cases have been filed against our 2.33 lakh leaders and workers, including our all advisers and standing committee members, this month — since Sept 1,” he said.
Speaking at a views-exchange meeting, the BNP leader further said,
“They (govt) are doing it out of their fear that their existence will be at stake if the 20-party alliance joins the polls. So, they want to keep BNP and the 20-party alliance away from polls.”
Fakhrul said even around 100 pro-BNP lawyers, including senior ones, took bail from the court on Tuesday as most of them have been implicated in 7-8 ‘false’ cases. “Is it possible to hang onto power by filing cases and using force? False case is now the government’s biggest weapon to prevent the opposition from coming to the polls.”
Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh, one of the components of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, arranged the programme at the Jatiya Press Club.
The BNP leader called upon the government to take steps for creating an election atmosphere in the country by releasing Khaleda Zia from jail and withdrawing the ‘false’ cases filed against BNP and other opposition leaders and activists. “We would like to clearly tell the government to free our leader Khaleda Zia and create a congenial election atmosphere in the country.”
Mentioning that BNP is a liberal democratic party, he also said their party wants to join the next national polls to establish a pro-people government.
The BNP leader, however, warned that people will not allow the government to hold an election where voters cannot exercise their right to franchise and a level-playing field will not be ensured for all parties.
About national unity, Fakhrul said the entire nation needs to get united to remove the current ‘fascist’ regime and establish a government of people. “Let’s all political parties and organisations get united to force the government to hold a free and fair election.”
He also alleged that the government has destroyed all the democratic institutions in a planned way. “They ruined parliament and the judiciary, politicised the administration and established its control on the media by force.”
The BNP leader warned that the current government must face trial some day for ‘destroying’ the country’s all democratic institutions.
source: UNB
