politics
Govt has no connection with Tarique-Zubaida arrest warrants: Quader
Bangladesh Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said that government has no connection with arrest warrants issued for BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Dr. Zubaida Rahman.
“Blaming the government for anything and everything is a regular practice and culture of BNP. The court issued arrest warrants for Tarique and Zubaida in a corruption case filed by the ACC. This is a legal process; the government didn’t interfere,” he said,
He came up with the remarks at a press briefing at Setu Bhaban in Dhaka on Wednesday, a day after BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that the arrest warrants were issued as part of the government’s “political vengeance”.
Read: Arrest warrants issued for Tarique and Zubaida Rahman in corruption case
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he also said the government has been using “false” cases as a political weapon to suppress the opposition, and creating a ground for depoliticization in the country.
Quader said that the ACC is also filing cases against many from the ruling party and investigation is on against some of them, as the ACC is playing an independent role in this regard.
In response to the BNP secretary general’s statement that the government is “nervous” about the Zia family, Quader said that everyone knows the history of misrule and corruption of Zia family.
Read: Graft case against Tarique, Zubaida: HC asks trial court to dispose of case soon
“A BNP leader is now in exile for corruption, looting and misdeeds. He doesn’t have the courage to come back to the country,” Quader said.
Bangladesh Awami League does not believe in politics of revenge but BNP is the originator of the trend, he said, and cited August 15 massacre and grenade attack as examples.
EC holding votes in local government bodies across Bangladesh
The Election Commission is conducting election on Wednesday in local government bodies to elect representatives in upazilas, municipalities and union parishads across the country.
The polling started at 8 am and will continue till 4:00 pm.
EC Joint Secretary and spokesman SM Asaduzzaman said police and other security people have been deployed to conduct the elections peacefully.
Unauthorised vehicular movement has been closed in the respective areas, he added.
Read: ‘BNP will swallow the entire country if it returns to power’
Elections are taking place in four municipalities of the country while CCTV cameras are being used only in these municipalities.
These are- Fatikcchari Municipality of Fatikcchari Upazila of Chattogram, Hazrabari Municipality of Hazrabari Upazila of Jamalpur, Parvatipur Municipality of Parvatipur Upazila of Dinajpur and Vishwanath Municipality of Vishwanath Upazila of Sylhet.
EC is also conducting voting in three upazilas - Karnaphuli of Chattogram, Jagannathpur of Sunamganj and Osmaninagar of Sylhet. Besides, by-election polling is being held for the post of Chairman of Netrakona Sadar, Roumari and Chilmari of Kurigram and Khoksa Upazila of Kushtia.
The by-election to Khoksa Upazila Parishad of Kushtia started amid clashes between supporters of the rival candidates.
Read: AL expects huge turnout in Saturday Dhaka district council in capital city
As soon as the voting started at 8:00 am, the fight broke out at Kadirpur Government Primary School voting centre between supporters of the Awami League-backed candidate Babul Akhter and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) leader Motahar Hossain Khokon.
The EC is taking votes in many Union Parishads (UP). The UPs are Baratara and Tulsi Ganga in Khototal Upazila of Joypurhat; Ziarthi and Kanchanpur of Kushtia Sadar, Chithlia and Dhubail of Mirpur; Adra and Phulmocha of Melandah in Jamalpur Upazila; Raipara, Mahmudpur and Sutarpara of Dohar Upazila of Dhaka; Perli and Panchgram of Kalia Upazila of Narail; West Jaflong, Goainghat, East Jaflong and Madhya Jaflong of Goainghat Upazila of Sylhet; Kharera of Kasba upazila of Brahmanbaria and Durlabpur of Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj.
Read: Govt to support Election Commission in holding fair election: Law Minister
The other unions are - Borobari of Lalmonirhat Sadar, Ashikpur of Shajahanpur in Bogra, Arabpur of Jessore Sadar,Rakhalgachi of Bagherhat Sadar and Udaipur of Mollarhat, Barakpur of Dighaliya Upazila of Khulna, Amragachia of Mirzaganj in Patuakhali, Nagda Shimla of Gopalpur in Tangail, Naikpur in Madan of Netrakona, Sutalri in Harirampur in Manikganj, Mohichail in Chandina upazila of Comilla and Hossaindi of Ghazaria Upazilla in Munshiganj.
The EC is conducting by-elections for a total of 60 member posts under 58 Union Parishads in 52 upazilas of 36 districts.
Arrest warrants for Tarique, Zubaida out of AL’s political vengeance, says Mirza Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday alleged that the warrants issued for the arrest of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman was part of the government’s political vengeance.
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he also said the government has been using ‘false’ cases as a political weapon to suppress the opposition and create a ground for depoliticisation in the country.
“There is no basis in the case in which the arrest warrants were issued against our leader Tarique Rahman and Dr Zubaida Rahman. The Awami League government filed the case out of political vengeance as an attempt to keep them away from Bangladesh and politics,” the BNP leader said.
Read more: Arrest warrants issued for Tarique and Zubaida Rahman in corruption case
He condemned the issuance of arrest warrants and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the warrants and the case.
Earlier in the day, a Dhaka court issued warrants for the arrest of Tarique and Zubaida in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Asaduzzaman court passed the order after taking the chargesheet against them into cognisance.
Read more: Bangladesh not facing crisis, BNP is in deep crisis: Quader
Fakhrul said the government has already kept the BNP Chairperson under house arrest by convicting her in ‘false’ cases only due to political vengeance." Our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman is being forced to stay abroad using false cases. The case against Zubaida, a professional and talented physician, was filed for political reasons since she is the daughter-in-law of the Zia family.”
In response to a question, he said though Zubaida is a non-political professional the arrest warrant was issued against her only because of the government’s fear of the Zia family.
The BNP leader alleged that the government has been trying to eliminate BNP and Zia family from politics over the 14 years through various repressive and suppressive acts, and laws and by using law enforcers.
He warned the government that its all efforts to weaken BNP will go in vain since the country’s people are with the party. “Despite so much torture, BNP is waking up like a phoenix. There’s no way to prevent the emergence of BNP as it’s a party of people.”
No food stock to face emergency
Fakhrul said their standing committee meeting on Monday elaborately discussed the Prime Minister’s recent remark about a possible famine in the next year. “Our meeting felt that the PM’s statement has clearly manifested that the government has failed to stockpile food to face exigency.
He said the BNP policymakers expressed deep concern as the import of food grains has decreased by about 37 percent in the last four months.
Read more: Huge crowds in BNP rally mean they want democracy back, says Mirza Fakhrul
“The country’s food security is now under an extreme threat due to the unprecedented corruption, indifference and incompetence of the Food Ministry and the Food Department of the government. At the same time due to corruption, unnecessary spending on different projects and dollar shortages are disrupting imports,” the BNP leader observed.
He also bemoaned that the country’s economic crisis is deepening because of the unethical withdrawal of dollars from reserves and siphoning off 7/8 billion dollars every year through illegal channels like hundi.
Fakhrul also expressed concern over the increase in the production cost of food grains caused by the increase in the price of fertilisers, seeds and disruption of irrigation operations across the country and for lack of electricity and diesel.
Bangladesh not facing crisis, BNP is in deep crisis: Quader
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said that people of the country are not facing any trouble, rather it is BNP and its politics that are in crisis.
Quader, also Road Transport and Bridges Minister, said this in a statement – protesting the statement of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Mirza Fakhrul on Monday said the nation has been facing a terrible crisis, solely due to lack of democracy. “We must overcome this crisis,” he said.
Read more: Fakhrul slams Quader for making personal attack, accuses AL of plundering public money
Fakhrul made the remark while exchanging greetings with members of the Hindu community and distinguished personalities at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
“People think that the biggest threat to the country’s independence and sovereignty is BNP,” Quader said, adding that the values of the Liberation War and democracy are not safe in the hands of BNP.
There is no crisis over democracy in Bangladesh, the crisis is in BNP’s mentality, Quader said. BNP leaders always present “artificial crisis” in their speeches, he said.
Read more: AL programmes won’t counter BNP rallies: Quader
In the statement, the AL leader expressed hope that BNP will be back on the right track through embracing the spirit of the Liberation War and democratic values.
BNP threatens movement every day but they do not know who the leader of their movement is, he also said.
Quader said that the chairperson and the acting chairman of BNP are both convicted, and Khaleda Zia is convicted for embezzling money belonging to orphans. “Bangabandhu’s daughter allowed her the opportunity to receive treatment at home on humanitarian grounds,” he added.
Govt to support Election Commission in holding fair election: Law Minister
Law Minister Anisul Huq on Tuesday said the government will provide all necessary support to the Election Commission (EC) in holding a free and fair election.
“I have clearly said that the Bangladesh government enacted a law for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners. The responsibility of the Election Commission is to conduct fair elections and the government will provide all necessary assistance,” he said.
Read more: BNP MPs ready to resign; Govt must go for credible election: Fakhrul
The minister said this replying to questions from journalists after a meeting with Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Lilly Nicholls.
The envoy paid a call on the minister at the Secretariat today.
The Hasina-led government is committed to holding fair elections, Anisul added.
It is up to EC whether it will allow observers in national poll
The law minister said he told the Canadian envoy that it is up to the EC whether it will allow observers in the next national election.
During the visit, Nicholls wanted to know whether they can send observers to oversee the next election,
They also discussed the Digital Security Act and the Data Protection Act. “They did not say anything about the Digital Security Act. I informed them about it as this issue is being widely discussed,” said the minister.
Read more: Govt won’t send Khaleda back to jail before election: Law Minister
Regarding the proposed Data Protection Act, the minister said already a meeting was held with the stakeholders. There will be two to three more meetings. “It will not be for data control, it will be for protection.”
During the visit they discussed 50 years of friendship between the two nations, areas of mutual cooperation, importance of freedom of expression in democratic societies.
Huge crowds in BNP rally mean they want democracy back, says Mirza Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday said that lakhs of people are joining their party’s divisional rallies driven by their desire to get back democracy and their lost rights.
“One thing is very important that if there is no democracy, no one's rights can be established,” he said.
The BNP leader said the nation has been facing a terrible crisis only for the lack of democracy in the country. “We must overcome this crisis.”
“We’ve been on a movement to restore democracy and lakhs of common people are participating in it as they all want the country returns to democracy, and people’s rights are protected,” he observed.
Read more: BNP rally begins defying transport strike in Rangpur
Fakhrul made the remarks while exchanging greetings with the members of the Hindu community and distinguished personalities at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office after the celebration of Durga Puja.
He said BNP believes in inclusive politics with the members of all religious communities, including Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian.
The BNP leader said the country was liberated to build a welfare state with the spirit of democracy, equal rights of people, justice, and fairness.
Fakhrul alleged that the government first sent BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to jail by convicting her in false cases. “She has now been kept under house arrest.”
“I believe the people of Bangladesh will once again wake up shortly like the time of the Liberation War to defeat the devil regime and pave a way for turning Bangladesh into a happy and prosperous country,” he said.
Read more: BNP gets Bangabandhu Udyan for its Barishal rally on November 5
BNP Standing Committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, vice chairman Netai Roy Chowdhury, BNP chairperson's advisors, Bijon Kanti Sarker, Dr Sukomal Barua and Gonoforum general secretary Advocate Subrata Chowdhury, among others, spoke at the programme.
BNP gets Bangabandhu Udyan for its Barishal rally on November 5
BNP has finally been granted permission to hold its divisional rally in the city’s Bangabandhu Udyan on November 5.
Jashim Uddin Hayder, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Barishal, confirmed the matter on Monday afternoon.
Talking to UNB, the DC said they gave BNP permission to hold the rally at Bangabandhu Uddyan considering its letter in this regard.
He said the opposition party was asked to arrange the rally on the west side of Bangabandhu Udyan, leaving a portion of the venue as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to be virtually connected to a programme there on November 7.
Meer Jahidul Kabir Jahid, Member Secretary of BNP’s Barishal City unit, said that the DC verbally gave them permission over the phone around 3:00pm to organise the rally at Bell Park, which was renamed 26 years ago as Bangabandhu Udyan by the then Awami League government.
BNP Barishal City unit convener of Moniruzzaman Faruk submitted a letter to the DC on October 23, seeking permission to hold the rally at the same venue.
However, the party mentioned the venue as Bell Park instead of Bangabandhu Park, creating uncertainty over accepting the letter.
Meanwhile, three-wheeler drivers in Barishal have called a strike on November 4 and 5 demanding the authorities concerned allow three-wheelers to operate on the highway.
The strike has coincided with the upcoming rally of the BNP while bus owners in the district have announced a similar strike on the same dates.
The bus owners said they will enforce the strike on these days if the three-wheelers are not banned from the highways by November 3.
BNP leader Moniruzzaman Faruk said bus movement was stopped ahead of the party’s rallies in Khulna and Rangpur, but three-wheelers were available there. “Now, the three-wheeler drivers have also announced their strike before our November 5 rally. The ruling party is trying to create all types of barriers to prevent people from joining our rally.”
The rally in Barishal will be the 5th one by the BNP at the divisional level as four others were held in Chattogram, Mymensingh, Khulna, and Rangpur.
The organisers said the rallies are meant to denounce the price hike of daily essentials and fuels, the death of five party men in previous police action in Bhola, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, and Jashore, and to ensure the freedom of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
The BNP has long been demanding that the next general election be held under a caretaker government, not under any political government--a demand sharply rejected by the ruling Awami League as the constitution does not allow it to happen.
Sheikh Hasina must come back to save Bangladesh, says Obaidul Quader
Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Monday said that Sheikh Hasina must return to power to save Bangladesh.
“If Sheikh Hasina loses, Bangladesh will lose,” Quader told a discussion meeting organised by Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) on the premises of the central Shaheed Minar. “We cannot be defeated by the anti-liberation forces.”
The event was held to commemorate the 50th founding anniversary of the party led by Hasanul Huq Inu.
Quader called for a greater unity under the leadership of Hasina, saying that an evil force like BNP must be defeated by forging unity of the pro-liberation forces.
Also read: Fakhrul slams Quader for making personal attack, accuses AL of plundering public money
He came down heavily on BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for his comment that the crowd in a recent council of the Dhaka district Awami League was thin.
“(I think) Mirza Fakhrul counted the chairs at the Dhaka district Awami League council by using binoculars from Rangpur. There were 70,000 chairs, not 22,000. I challenged,” Quader said in reference to the statement by Fakhrul who spoke at an anti-government rally in Rangpur on the same day of the AL council in Dhaka.
“I want to tell Mirza Fakhrul, we are united under the 14-party alliance. To save Bangladesh, Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina must be in power," he said.
He said that BNP did not protest for even 13 minutes over last 13 years.
“Now, Fakhrul wants to protest (against us). We know where the root of this (anti-government) movement is,” he said.
Also read: ‘BNP will swallow the entire country if it returns to power’ ‘BNP will swallow the entire country if it returns to power’
Quader said that BNP’s dream of toppling down the government on December 10 and returning to power would not succeed. BNP has set December 10 to hold a massive anti-government rally in Dhaka through which the opposition party wants to knock the government down. Some BNP leaders even warned that after December 10 the country will be run by BNP.
Quader said they know some secrets behind the ongoing movement.
"We have received information that the money (being spent by BNP in the movement) is coming from Dubai," Quader said.
JP to join JS session upon speaker’s assurance
Jatiya Party’s parliament members have decided to join the parliamentary session on Monday, a day after they announced to stay away from parliament till the speaker recognises GM Quader as the leader of the opposition instead of Raushan Ershad.
JP Chairman GM Quader directed all the MPs of the party to join the 20th session of parliament on Monday upon assurance from Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, said Khandakar Delwar Jalali, JP press secretary.
Earlier on Sunday, Jatiya Party announced they will stay away from Parliament after a discussion with the speaker where she offered no hint of a positive decision in this regard coming soon.
Currently, Raushan Ershad is the opposition leader who has been abroad for a long time for medical treatment with GM Quader as her deputy.
Read: Jatiya Party removes Ranga as opposition chief whip
Earlier on September 3, the JP parliamentary party proposed to make GM Quader the opposition leader of the parliament instead of Raushan but the speaker is yet to take a decision in this regard.
The 20th session of the current parliament that began Sunday will continue till November 6.
JaPa to stay away from JS till Quader recognized as opposition leader
Jatiya Party have announced they will stay away from Parliament till the speaker recognises GM Quader as the leader of the opposition instead of Raushan Ershad.
The decision was taken in a meeting of the party’s parliamentary party on Sunday after a discussion with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury where she offered no hint of a positive decision in this regard coming soon, said Khandakar Delwar Jalali, JP press secretary.
Jatiya Party’s parliamentary party has decided GM Quader will be head of their parliamentary delegation and informed the matter to the speaker in writing, he said.
Read more: JP seeks to remove ailing Raushan as leader of opposition in Parliament
Currently, Raushan Ershad is the opposition leader who has been abroad for a long time for medical treatment with GM Quader as her deputy.
Earlier on September 3, the parliamentary party proposed to make GM Quader the opposition leader of the parliament instead of Raushan but the speaker is yet to take a decision in this regard.
The 20th session of the current parliament that began Sunday will continue till November 6.
Read more: PM’s gesture to Raushan in JS, enquires about her health