Hit the streets if you can: Quader tells BNP

Dhaka, Jun 22 – Taking a swipe at BNP’s Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, ruling Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader asked the party to take to the streets if it can.
“BNP has been talking about movements. If it has the ability and courage, it should take to the streets first,” he told media at party chief’s political office in Dhanmondi.
In the last decade, the BNP failed to put up even a 10-minute demonstration, the Awami League leader said.
Fakhrul on Friday said that they would intensify their movement to free party chief Khaleda Zia from jail and ‘restore’ democracy.
Quader said the BNP’s movement for democracy was fraught with contradictions. “Mirza Fakhrul himself didn’t join parliament after winning the election, but announced candidate for re-election. What sort of democracy is this?” he asked.
The ruling party leader noted that five BNP MPs and the reserved seat MP joined parliament but the party’s secretary general didn’t. “This is ridiculous,” he said.
Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Organising Secretary Ahmad Hossain, Bahauddin Nasim, AKM Enamul Haque Shamim, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Office Secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap, Relief and Disaster Management Affairs Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, among others, were present. – UNB