politics
Awami League must not come to power again as it is against independence, democracy: Fakhrul
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has alleged that the government has been working against independence and it should not be allowed to come to power again in any way.
“ It’s a matter of regret and shame that Awami League has taken a stance against independence now. During the Liberation War our aim and expectation was to establish a democratic society, multi-party state system which Awami League has destroyed and returning to one-party rule as following their previous technique,” he said.
Now their stance is against independence, against democracy and against the people of the country, said Fakhrul at a programme at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity on Thursday.
Bhashani Onusari Parishad organized the event marking former minister Sunil Kumer Gupto’s 15 the death anniversary.
Fakhrul came up with the remarks a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that arson terrorist BNP-Jamaat alliance, the killers, the anti-liberation forces and war criminals must not come to power again in this land (Bangladesh),” she said.
The prime minister said this on Tuesday while speaking at a civic reception accorded to her at Ritz Carlton hotel in Washington.
The BNP leader also criticized the government for its stance not to repeal the Digital Security Act.” When all are demanding cancellation of the law you are boasting that it would not be cancelled.”
“ Why it should not be cancelled? You are using this(Digital Security Act) as an weapon which you don’t want to lose,” he added.
“But you should not forget that the people of the country achieved independence though the Liberation War in 1971, they ousted the autocratic government through mass upsurge in 1990. Now the people of the country have started a movement and democracy will win through this movement,” said Fakhrul.
Read more: Arson terrorists, killers must not grab power again: PM Hasina
He said that they country will have no existence if the anti-liberation, anti-democracy force comes to power again.
“ For this reason we have started a simultaneous movement with all the political parties who love the country. We have created hope among people across the country. With this hope, we’ll have to free the country, protect independence and restore people’s rights ,” he added.
Covenor of Bhashani Onusari Parishad Sheikh Rafiqul Islam chaired the event.
Though the event was supposed to be held at the Jatiya Press Club later club authorities cancelled the permission.
Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) President Mostafa Jamal Haidar, Gono Forum General Secretary Subrata Chowdhury, BNP Chairperson’s Advisor Council Member Bijon Kanti Sarkar, among others, spoke at the event.
Khulna City Polls: 5 mayoral candidates collect nomination papers
Five mayoral candidates have collected nomination papers to compete in Khulna City Corporation election — to be held on June 12.
As many as 159 candidates, including five for the mayoral post, have collected nomination papers for the KCC polls till Wednesday afternoon.
Among those who collected nomination papers so far are Aguan-71 candidate Md Abdullah Chowdhury, Awami League backed mayoral candidate and current mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque, Islami Andolan Bangladesh mayoral candidate Maulana Abdul Awal, independent candidate Abdul Gaffar Biswas and independent candidate SM Shafiqur Rahman.
According to the Returning Officer Md Alauddin, five candidates for the mayor's post, 125 for the general councilor's post and 29 for the reserved councilor's post had collected nomination papers by Wednesday afternoon.
“Candidates are advised to follow the electoral code of conduct. At the same time, they have been instructed to remove promotional materials,” Alauddin said.
It is to be noted that a total of 5,35, 528 voters from 31 wards are set to vote on June 12’s city corporation election.
Khaleda Zia to return home from hospital this afternoon after 5 days
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will return to her residence from Evercare Hospital in the capital on Thursday afternoon after five days of treatment and medical check-ups for various ailments.
“ Khaleda Zia will leave the hospital for her Gulshan residence after 3 pm today,” the BNP chief’s media wing member Sayrul Kabir Khan told UNB.
She was admitted to the hospital on Saturday night for some medical tests and required treatment.
Her medical team member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said the BNP chief was kept in a cabin under close observation of doctors and her condition improved a little as she was given treatment as per the advice of her medical board.
Khaleda, a 77-year-old former prime minister, has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart and eye problems.
Since her conditional release in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.
She visited the same hospital for health check-ups on February 27 last. Khaleda received treatment at the hospital six times since she was infected with Coronavirus in April 2021.
In November 2021, Khaleda Zia was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis.
Read more: Khaleda Zia taken to Evercare Hospital for health check-ups
On June 10 last, the BNP chief suffered a heart attack due to a 95 percent block in her left artery and a stent was placed there by removing the blockage at the same hospital the following day.
Doctors also found two more blocks in her blood vessels, but they could not remove those due to her health complications.
Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail as a lower court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty in another corruption case the same year.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with conditions that she will stay in her Gulshan house and will not leave the country.
Fakhrul smells conspiracy in ministers' comments on Khaleda's health
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir believes recent statements by members of the cabinet on Khaleda Zia's illness may be part of 'propaganda' to pave the way to putting her back in jail.
The BNP secretary general made the remarks while addressing a press conference on Tuesday when attention was drawn to the various statements made by the ministers and leaders of the ruling party on the issue of the BNP chairperson's health.
He said: “The BNP chairperson is very sick. She had to stay at the hospital for 4 months and we’ve told you that she’s suffering from various liver and heart-related complications.”
“Even after this, if they say all these things, if they spread propaganda, it means they’re once again hatching a deep conspiracy. We have to think about whether they’re planning or conspiring to take her back to jail,” he speculated.
Read more: BNP, Ganatantra Mancha meeting held on future of anti-govt movement
Mirza Fakhrul said: “We’ve repeatedly said that this is her fundamental right to get treatment. Doctors, and members of the medical board have said she needed to be sent to other countries for better treatment.”
"But so far the government has not taken any action on it. Moreover, they are making a mockery of our leader and the people by using such propaganda.”
The Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Sunday said: "BNP's real objective is to make Khaleda Zia sick and make her appear sick. BNP has been doing it from the very first for gaining political interest."
Meanwhile, the BNP secretary general has said the newly proposed ‘Essential Services Bill 2023’ is undemocratic and against the interest of workers and the public and demanded the withdrawal of the bill.
"BNP believes that the proposed bill will not only undermine the interests and rights of the working people, it is against democracy, human rights and the constitutional right of the people to protest. BNP is demanding the withdrawal of the proposed Essential Services Bill-2023. ”
"This bill will undermine all the rights that the working people had achieved by protesting for ages,” he said.
Mirza Fakhrul said the proposed bill is against the commitment Bangladesh made globally to protect the rights of the workers.
“Bangladesh ratified ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 in 1972. Where the right to strike is described as an integral part of the right to organize.”
“But the proposed bill would take away the right of working people to strike by designating a large number of industries, institutions and service sectors as "essential services" and will also take away their right to organize,” he said at the press conference.
BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury was also present at the press conference.
BNP, Ganatantra Mancha meeting held on future of anti-govt movement
Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Ganatantra Mancha held a meeting on Tuesday to decide the future initiatives in their simultaneous movement against the incumbent government.
The meeting between Ganatantra Mancha and BNP's Liaison Committee was held at the party chairperson's Gulshan office at 11am on Tuesday.
At a press briefing after the two-hour meeting, BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, "The meeting discussed the ongoing anti-government movement. You can see that the simultaneous movement is going on and we have discussed the initiatives that need to be undertaken to take this movement forward more powerfully.”
Also Read: BNP demands immediate repeal of DSA, withdrawal of all cases field under it
The BNP is currently carrying out a simultaneous movement with Ganatantra Mancha, the alliance of seven opposition parties which was launched on August 8 last year, against the government.
Hasnat Kaiyum, the coordinator of Ganatantra Mancha and Rastra Sangskar Andolon, said: "One place for discussion is that the current anti-government movement in Bangladesh is different from the movements that took place in the past.”
“I'm telling you this specifically. We are not just protesting for a change of government, we are working to change this government and to change the structure of these authoritarian governments that came to power, we are working to change the government which would enable us to reform or repair the state,” he said.
He said BNP, Ganatantra Mancha and all the other parties who are already part of the movement against the government will soon jointly announce “the pathway to future Bangladesh” before the people.
Also Read: Mirza Fakhrul calls on workers to stand against ‘dictatorship’
Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Bangladesh Biplobi Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque, Ganasamhati Andolon Chief Coordinator Zonaid Saki, Bhasani Onusari Parishad Convener Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab) General Secretary Shahid Uddin Mahmud Swapan were present at the meeting.
BNP’s Amir Khasru was accompanied by the party’s Joint Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal.
BNP demands immediate repeal of DSA, withdrawal of all cases field under it
BNP standing committee has demanded immediate repeal of the Digital Security Act (DSA) and withdrawal of all cases filed under it as it thinks the ‘notorious law’ is the main obstruction to freedom of expression of the people of Bangladesh.
At a virtual meeting on Monday night BNP standing committee members alleged that the government is taking advantage of this law to snatch the freedom of expression of opposition leaders, activists, journalists and general people and using this regressive law as a tool to prolong the ‘fascist regime’.
The meeting also demanded release of Khadizatul Kubra, a student of Jagannath University, who has been suffering from kidney disease and languishing in jail for the past eight months in a DSA case, said a media released signed by party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Also Read: Mirza Fakhrul calls on workers to stand against ‘dictatorship’
It also discussed the DSA case against Mohd Jahangir Alam, a special correspondent of news agency United News Bangladesh (UNB).
The meeting also demanded release of all who are now behind the bars in the cases filed under the repressive law.
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan voiced concern about the Essential Services Bill 2023 which has recently been placed in parliament to make it a law soon.
During the meeting, the BNP standing committee members alleged that the government did not take opinion from the stakeholders over the law and as per the bill, if the government wants it can bring any industry, establishment, profession and service under this act and make strike in these organisations a punishable offence.
Snatching the right to strike in the 'Essential Services' Bill also takes away the right to collective bargaining, they said adding that this is also a clear violation of the government's international commitments and a tool to protect the oppression, deprivation and exploitation of employers by invalidating trade unions and movements.
BNP believes that the proposed law will not only undermine the interests and rights of the working people, it is against democracy, human rights and the constitutional right of the people to protest. BNP has strongly demanded the withdrawal of the 'Essential Services Bill 2023'.
BNP senior leaders Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salah Uddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku were present at the meeting.
Mirza Fakhrul calls on workers to stand against ‘dictatorship’
Speaking on May Day, Bangladesh Nationalists Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has called on the people, especially the workers, to stand up against the government.
He said, "Today our working class people are suffering the most. They can't even eat twice a day properly. So we have to stand up for ourselves, in the interest of the people of Bangladesh, in the interest of the workers, in the interest of the working people, in the interest of the farmers, in the interest of the people. ”
The BNP secretary general made the call while highlighting the condition of the working people of the country at a May Day workers' rally on Monday afternoon.
“We have to unite our people and topple them (the government). Our workers today have pledged to stand firm against dictatorship. Because if democracy is not established, if dictatorship cannot be removed, then the interests of the workers cannot be protected, their rights cannot be earned.”
Mirza Fakhrul said the “unelected” government is not only destroying the workers and farmers of this country but everyone.
“The monsters are destroying everything in our country, our institutions, our democracy, destroying all our futures,” Fakhrul said.
He also asked for the resignation of the government during his speech.
Referring to BNP’s 10-point demand, he said: "An election-time caretaker government must be formed who will then aid in electing a government of the people, a government of the workers.”
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir criticized Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud’s comments regarding Khaleda Zia’s health.
"BNP's real objective is to make Khaleda Zia sick and make her appear sick. BNP has been doing it from the very first for gaining political interest," the information minister said while addressing journalists on Sunday.
Criticizing his remarks, Mirza Fakhrul said: "You (the government) are not giving the country’s leader (Khaleda Zia) the opportunity to get treatment, you are not allowing her to go out of the country, you have imprisoned her in false cases.”
“You’ve kept our acting chairman Tarique Rahman in exile with a false case for 14-15 years," he said.
During his speech, the BNP secretary general also demanded the release of all the leaders and activists detained in jail.
Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, one of the associate bodies of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), organized the rally in front of the party's central office in Naya Paltan on the occasion of May Day. After the rally, the leaders took out a possession with the workers.
In addition to the central program in Dhaka, Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal has held workers' rallies and rallies in districts across the country as well.
BNP depressed, scared to contest polls: Quader
Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Sunday said that BNP is afraid of taking part in the elections as their leaders have become frustrated being rejected time and again by people.
“The BNP leaders have become depressed after being rejected again and again by the people. So, they are scared to join the elections. At the same time, they are engaged in questioning elections and the electoral process,” he said in a statement.
Quader, also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister, said though BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is saying that BNP would not participate in the elections, the BNP leaders and activists are seen submitting nomination papers for the mayoral and councilor posts in the upcoming city corporation elections. “The people have lost faith in the BNP due to this double-standard behaviour,” he said.
Referring to different lopsided and farcical elections held during the regimes of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia, the AL leader said, “How come BNP talks about the election with this face? The electoral system of this country was destroyed in the hands of the BNP.”
Talking about the remarks of Mirza Fakhrul who claimed that Awami League does not believe in democracy, the AL general secretary said Bangladesh Awami League has fought for a long time to establish the democratic rights of the people of this country.
“The voting rights of the people of this country have been established by the Bangladesh Awami League. Awami League will definitely not take the lessons of democracy from BNP. Awami League does not have faith or trust in the democracy practised by BNP,” he said, adding that BNP founder Ziaur Rahman gave curfew-enforced democracy to the people of this country.
Quader, in the statement, said the unprecedented development and progress of Bangladesh has been achieved under the leadership of successful statesman Sheikh Hasina.
The government-led by Sheikh Hasina has relentlessly been working to smoothen the path of democracy and rule of law. “Due to her role as a successful statesman, today Sheikh Hasina is admired by all the world leaders,” he said.
Along with the economic progress of Bangladesh, the fate of the people has improved, but BNP and its allies can’t tolerate that, he claimed.
“So, they are conspiring to disrupt this progress. We would like to say firmly that befitting replies will be given to all these conspiracies taking the people with us. No conspiracy will succeed, Inshallah,” said the AL general secretary.
Govt depriving Khaleda of advanced treatment overseas: Khosru
BNP standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Sunday alleged that the government is depriving Khaleda Zia of the advanced medical treatment abroad that she deserves.
“She’s unjustly sent to jail in false cases. She has been deprived of treatment. Her condition is not good. She’s being denied the specialised treatment she needs at a specialised hospital abroad,” he said.
Khosru made the remarks while briefing reporters after a meeting with Ganatantrik Bam Oikya at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
Though doctors have long been repeatedly talking about sending Khaleda overseas for advanced treatment, he said the government has been ignoring it.
He said from the president to the lower-level politicians in Bangladesh are often going abroad for treatment. “But Begum Khaleda Zia is being deprived of it. She is not being allowed to go abroad.”
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was admitted to Evercare Hospital on Saturday night for some medical tests and required treatment. She has been kept under close observation of physicians in a cabin at the hospital.
Khosru, a BNP standing committee member, said the government has not been allowing Khaleda to receive treatment abroad with the main objective to keep her away from politics “They (govt) are barring her (Khaleda) from getting involved in politics by jailing her out of fear of losing power.”
He alleged that the ruling party is trying to retain power again by keeping Khaleda away from politics.
The BNP leader, however, warned that the country’s people will give the government a befitting reply this time.
He also accused the government of torturing and arresting BNP leaders and activists in ‘false’ cases. “The only purpose of the current regime is to usurp power by snatching the voting rights of people. They’re unwilling to restore the voting rights of the people in any way.”
At the meeting between the liaison committees of BNP and Ganatantrik Bam Oikya, Khosru said they talked about the possible action programmes to intensify the ongoing simultaneous movement.
Khaleda Zia's illness is part of BNP's politics: Hasan Mahmud
Khaleda Zia is physically alright, but she is being shown ill as part of BNP's political plan, Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud has said.
The minister made the remarks during an exchange of views with the leaders and journalists of Bangladesh Cholochitra Sangbadik Samity (Bachsas) at the Secretariat on Sunday.
"BNP's real objective is to make Khaleda Zia sick and make her appear sick. BNP has been doing it from the very first for gaining political interest," said the information minister.
"A few days ago, BNP leaders said that if Khaleda Zia is not taken abroad for treatment; her life will be in danger. But we have seen that Khaleda Zia is physically well with treatment in a local hospital. It proves that BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's claim about the Awami League that it kept BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia sick to keep her away from politics is not true," added Hasan Mahmud.
Read: Govt depriving Khaleda of advanced treatment overseas: Khosru
Responding to a question, Hasan Mahmud said that whether BNP will participate in the election or not, is totally up to them, but I think that if any party continuously remains absent from the election, then the party is no longer a party of mass people. It turns into an organisation to protect self-interest.
"Actually, the acting chairman of the party wants to see BNP as his Lathial Bahini (hoodlum group). That is why he does not want BNP's participation in the elections. Now BNP's leaders and activists decide whether they will be used as a hoodlum group for someone or they will survive as a political party,” he said.
Among others, Bangladesh Cholochitra Sangbadik Samity (Bachsas) President Raju Alim, General Secretary Rimon Mahfuz, and Senior Vice President Anjan Rahman were present on this occasion.