politics
BNP for permanent solution to recurring floods in Sylhet region
BNP senior leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy on Saturday emphasized on taking effective steps including the construction of sustainable dams as a permanent solution to recurring floods in the country’s Sylhet region.
“Effective initiatives need to be taken to find a permanent solution so that the people of this (Sylhet) region do not face such catastrophic floods in the future,” he said.
The BNP leader said dredging rivers and digging canals are necessary to keep the normal flow of water from the mouths of different rivers to the downstream areas. “Besides, sustainable dams must be built at some points so that a vast area in downstream is not submerged during the rainy season.”
Also read: BNP blames govt for fresh spike in Covid cases
He hoped that BNP, if it returns to power, will take effective initiatives to end the problem of repeated flood in the region.
Gayeshwar, a BNP standing committee member, said these while talking to reporters after distributing relief materials among the flood victims at Lalpur Bazar in the Sadar Upazila arranged by Bangladesh Nari O Shishu Odhikar Forum.
He said BNP leaders and activists have been distributing relief materials as per the directives of their acting chairman Tarique Rahman from the beginning of the flood.
“Around 40 percent people of the country still remain marooned, but the ruling Awami League is not standing by them. In fact, it’s not the government of the people. This is a government for money launderers and women traffickers. So, BNP is now there beside the flood victims as a party of people,” the BNP leader said.
Also read: AL won’t be allowed to retain power by’rigging’ votes again: Mintoo
Slamming the government for what he said indulging in repressive acts, Gayeshwar said, BNP leaders and activists have become helpless as they have long been subjected to killings, enforced disappearances, attacks and ‘false’ cases.
He called upon people from all walks of life to get united and wage a strong movement to get rid of ‘misrule’ of the current regime and establish a pro-people government through a credible election under a non-party administration.
BNP blames govt for fresh spike in Covid cases
BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Friday alleged that the country has been witnessing a fresh surge in Covid cases because of the government’s negligence to take proper preventive measures.
"Coronavirus has been spreading in the country for the fourth time. This is happening due to the negligence of the government,” he said.
Read: Govt apathy compounds flood victims’ miseries: BNP
Speaking at a milad-mahfil, the BNP leader said China was experiencing a new wave of virus transmission, which was a wake-up call for the Bangladesh government to take effective preventive measures. ”But it (govt) did nothing. It didn't pay any attention to it.”
Mosharraf, a BNP standing committee member, bemoaned that many people, including BNP leaders, are getting infected with the Coronavirus due to the government’s failure and carelessness.
Dhaka south city unit BNP arranged the programme on the ground floor of the party's Nayapaltan central office seeking divine blessing for the speedy recovery of ailing BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Khaleda has long been suffering from various diseases, including liver cirrhosis and blockages in her arteries while Fakhrul has recently been infected with Covid-19.
About the flood, Musharraf said while people are already going through serious ordeals in the affected areas, water levels in different rivers are increasing, causing a fresh worry. “It’s happening due to the onrush of water from upstream India where dams were constructed on the common rivers.”
He said India opened all the gates of barrages during heavy downpours in the rainy season, inundating many areas in Bangladesh.
Read:AL keen on EVM use to manipulate polls in new way: BNP
“When we don't need water, we are flooded and when we need it, the rivers of Bangladesh do not have normal flow due to those dams. Our rivers are turning into dead ones and our agriculture, our biodiversity is being utterly destroyed,” the BNP leader observed.
He said the government should have talked to India and asked it not to divert waters of different rivers to Bangladesh when it is experiencing severe floods. “But they can’t do this because of their knee-jerk foreign policy."
“The government is sacrificing the national interests just to hang onto power. This is not the government of the people which hardly cares about people. It only cares about its own interests,” Mosharraf said.
He urged people from all walks of life to get united to ensure the fall of the current regime and establish a pro-people government through a credible election under a non-party administration.
AL won’t be allowed to retain power by’rigging’ votes again: Mintoo
BNP Vice-Chairman Abdul Awal Mintoo on Thursday said the Awami League government will not be allowed to retain power by ‘rigging’ votes again in the next general election.
“This regime has been in power by rigging votes. But it won’t be possible for them to hang onto power by rigging votes again. It won’t be allowed to happen this time,” he said.
Mintoo, also a renowned businessman, came up with the remarks while speaking at a council of six wards of BNP’s Dhaka north city unit at a community centre in the capital’s Karwan Bazar area.
Stating that the country’s people are eagerly waiting to get rid of the misrule of the Awami League, he called upon all political forces to take to the streets in unison to ensure the fall of the current regime and ‘restore’ democracy and people’s all rights.
Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent comment that some people always try to oust her government without any fault, Mintoo said, “Isn't it an offence that you filed false cases against lakhs of the opposition leaders and activists? Isn’t it a crime as you’re carrying out attacks on people and repressing them by your helmet force and other forces?”
He also questioned whether usurping power by destroying the election system and indulging in vote rigging is not a crime against the people and the state.
The BNP leader also warned that those who belong to the current government must be brought to justice for the crimes they are committing now.
“The Prime Minister doesn’t find her offences. But I find their crimes everywhere and they must be accountable for these misdeeds,” Mintoo observed.
He slammed the government for what he said indulging in massive celebration over the inauguration of Padma Bridge while people in the flood-affected areas were crying for food and relief.
Govt apathy compounds flood victims’ miseries: BNP
BNP on Wednesday alleged that the government has no attention to public sufferings as it has not been elected by people’s votes.
“Since this regime is not elected by the people, it has no attention to public sufferings. They’re not standing beside the flood victims,” said BNP Dhaka north city unit convener Amanullah Aman.
He said the government is least bothered about the plights of people as they are thinking that they will come to power again by holding another ‘farcical’ election under them as they did in 2018. “That’s why they’re ignoring the country’s people.”
“But the people of Bangladesh have decided that no more elections will be held under the current government. The next election must be held under a non-party caretaker government through which people will elect their representatives,” the BNP leader said.
He was speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office after a preparatory meeting of the party’s relief committee.
Aman said around 25 districts in the country have been affected by the floods, leaving many people in serious misery. “Our party suspended all organisational activities and asked our leaders and activists to stand by the flood-affected people at the beginning of the flood.”
He said their party leaders have already visited different flood-hit areas and distributed relief materials. “As we think that was not enough to ease the sufferings of the affected people, we’ve decided to carry out relief activities more extensively as per the advice of our acting chairman Tarique Rahman.”
The BNP leader said diseases like diarrhoea can spread in the flood-affected areas as water started receding. “So, we’ve decided to distribute fresh water, medicines and water purifying tablets in the flood-affected areas.”
Aman said it is the main responsibility of the government to provide people with adequate relief materials, but it has failed to do that.
“On the one hand the flood-affected people were starving and crying for help, on the other the government was indulging in dancing, singing and merrymaking over the inauguration of Padma Bridge. Wherever we went, people said they didn’t get relief from the government,” he said.
The BNP leader also said around Tk9.5 crores were spent on making toilets for the opening of the Padma Bridge while only Tk30 lakhs were allocated for the flood victims in Sylhet division.
As BNP is a party of people, he said the party and its leaders and activists stood beside the flood-affected people this time as in the past.
Aman recalled that Khaleda Zia during her government distributed adequate relief materials among the flood victims in different areas wadding through the floodwaters.
AL keen on EVM use to manipulate polls in new way: BNP
BNP senior leader Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku on Wednesday said Awami League (AL) is keen on the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the next general election to implement its new manipulation plan.
“We believed them (AL) once earlier and joined the election (under them). But they completed the day’s voting at night,” he said.
Read:AL in favour of using EVMs in national election: Quader
The BNP leader said the ruling party is now seeking the use of EVMs in the polls so that they need not steal votes at night again. “They’ll do it this time by pressing the EVM buttons sitting in the polling stations.”
Talking to reporters on the grave premises of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman in the capital, Tuku said their party will no longer participate in mockery in the name of election.
Earlier, he along with the leaders of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal placed a wreath at Zia’s grave, marking the formation of an eight-member partial committee of the BNP’s youth wing.
Tuku, a BNP standing committee member, said their party will not go to the polls until a neutral government is established.
As a democratic party, he said BNP wants the election to be held in a democratic atmosphere.
The BNP leader recalled that then prime minister Khaleda Zia accepted defeat after she had resigned by forming a caretaker government in 1996. “That’s called democracy.”
He urged the Awami League government to arrange the next election under a non-party neutral administration if it has that courage like Khaleda Zia.
“If we lose in such an election, we will accept it. We want to see fair play,” the BNP leader said.
Sought his comment on the Election Commission’s (EC’s) proposal on holding the national election in four days, Tuku said it will not be acceptable in Bangladesh.
“Since the birth of Bangladesh, the election has been held in one day. I don't know whether or not the (Chief Election Commissioner) is a hybrid one. I don't know why he wants to do it in four days,” Tuku said.
Read: Despite pros and cons, EVMs better than ballots: CEC
If the election is held in four days, he said the election results will be kept at the offices of the deputy commissioners (DCs) whom people do not trust. “So, it won’t happen in Bangladesh.”
As his attention was drawn to AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader’s remark that BNP will finally join polls, Tuku said, “I have doubts whether the people of Bangladesh value Obaidul Quader's words…there’s no reason for us to join the election as per Obaidul Quader’s expectation. They don't even have a good record to encourage us to go to polls under them.”
Govt has no plan to rehabilitate flood victims: BNP
BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Tuesday alleged that the government has no plan to help and rehabilitate the flood victims in the country’s northeast region.
“We express our sorrow to the flood victims. You have seen in the newspapers how people are living in inhumane conditions in flood-hit areas. We’re observing that the government has no plan to deal with catastrophic floods and to… rehabilitate the victims,” he said.
Speaking at a round-table discussion, the BNP leader also said the government did not come forward to stand beside the flood-affected people.
“It’s unfortunate that they (govt) were busy with other things. If the government is not elected by people’s vote and if there is no government of people, then public suffering and grief won’t get priority over the interests of individuals and groups,” he observed.
The South Asian Youth Research Center arranged the programme titled “The Issue of Water Sharing between Bangladesh and India” at the Jatiya Press Club.
Mosharraf, a BNP standing committee member, said the government has so far not calculated the extent of damage caused by the severe floods in the country.
READ: HC directs not to bar BNP leader Alal from going abroad
Referring to the recent Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting with India participated by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, he said it was nothing but an eye wash.
He said the minister only gave a lip service at the meeting without any report from the Joint River Commission.
The BNP leader said when many areas of Bangladesh were being inundated in flood waters India opened all the gates of the Farakka barrage.
“We’re submerged with water from the upstream when we don't need water. When we need water for saving our lives and livelihoods, then upstream water is being diverted to other areas (of India), turning Bangladesh into a desert,” he observed.
The BNP leader also said a big bridge over the Jumna River was constructed but bullock carts run under the bridge now during the dry season. “This is happening for the barrage and dams in India,” he said.
He also said most rivers in Bangladesh are losing their depths and widths due to the unilateral withdrawal of water from the common rivers by India during the dry season, causing floods during the rainy season.
Mosharraf alleged that it has been long the current government has failed to ink the Teesta water-sharing deal and ensure a fair share of waters from other common rivers due to its knee-jerk foreign policy.
Raushon Ershad returns home from Thailand
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Raushon Ershad returned home from Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, on Monday after nearly seven and a half months of stay there for medical treatment.
She reached Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport around 12 noon, said her assistant private secretary Md Mamum Hasan.
Read:Raushon doing well, set to return home Monday: GM Quader
Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader along with the party’s senior leaders welcomed the opposition leader at the airport.
Earlier on Sunday, GM Quader said Raushon, the chief patron of the Jatiya Party, was now doing well as her physical condition improved a lot.
Rahgir Al Mahi Saad Ershad MP (Rangpur-3) who along with his wife Mahima Ershad accompanied Raushon in Bangkok throughout her stay there said his mother is now fine, but very weak.
“She has problems in her legs and still can’t walk properly. It may take time for her to gain back her strength. She needs more physiotherapy,” he said.
Read:Raushon Ershad taken to Bangkok for better treatment
Saad said Raushon will also go to Bangkok for follow-up treatment on July 4 next.
On November 5 last year, Raushon was flown to Thailand by an air ambulance as her health condition turned critical. She has been receiving treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital since then.
Earlier, Raushon Ershad, 78, underwent treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) as she fell ill seriously due to old age complications.
Jatiya Party MP slams pro-rich budget for not addressing 'unbridled looting'
Jatiya Party MP Kazi Firoz Rashid on Sunday came down heavily on the finance minister for favouring the rich section of people while preparing the budget for the 2022-23 fiscal.The Jatiya Party MP elected from Dhaka claimed that Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal mixed oil and water in such a way that it is impossible to separate them.speaking in Parliament on the budget 2022-23 fiscal said the financial institutions of the country have gone under the control looters.Unrestrained looting is going on in financial institutions as if there is no one to watch over them, he alleged.Firoz said that Bangladesh Bank, and Banking Division of the Ministry of Finance are silent and mum.
Read: Raushon doing well, set to return home Monday: GM Quader"This unbridled looting can not be stopped," he said.He questioned how PK Haldar looted thousands of crores and went abroad. "It didn’t happen in a day. PK Haldar has traveled abroad 133 times with his six girlfriends," he said. Kazi Firoz Rashid criticised the rules which allow the director of one bank to take money from another bank. Money is not being invested.The Jatiya Party MP complained that calling itself Gono Tadanto Commission, a section that has no constituency among the people submitted a 2200 page inquiry report that lets off these looters, and instead targets the alems and ulemas, the pious section of society. "For two years they have toured all over the country. Where did they get this money?" he questioned.
Read: All avenues of justice for people shut: BNP Firoz Rashid supported the proposal to bring back the siphoned money through paying taxes, although the proposal is unethical.He proposed to pay 12 percent tax instead of seven percent on the condition that the persons would invest the money in the country.Kazi Firoz Rashid said the Padma Bridge is not a political issue. "This bridge is a matter of pride and pride of the nation. This bridge has conveyed the message of financial strength and capability of Bangladesh to the world. "He mentioned that this bridge was not built to collect money. The Prime Minister has gifted this bridge for the development of the fate of three crore people.
Raushon doing well, set to return home Monday: GM Quader
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Raushon Ershad is set to return home from Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, on Monday after nearly seven and a half months of stay there for medical treatment.
She is scheduled to reach Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport at 12:10pm, said Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader who returned home from Thailand on Sunday noon.
Read:Raushon Ershad taken to Bangkok for better treatment
He said Raushon, also the chief patron of the Jatiya Party, is now doing well.
“Her physical condition has improved a lot,” the Jatiya Party Chairman said.
He asked party leaders and activists who are not preoccupied to be present at the airport by 12 pm to welcome Raushon.
Earlier on Thursday, GM Quader went to Thailand to visit Raushon.
Contacted, her son Rahgir Al Mahi Saad Ershad MP (Rangpur-3) who along with his wife Mahima Ershad has been accompanying Raushon in Bangkok since she went there said her mother is now fine, but very weak.
“She has problems in her legs and still can’t walk properly. It may take time for her to gain back her strength. She needs more physiotherapy,” he said.
Read: Eric announces new JaPa committee making Raushon chairman
Saad said Raushon will also go to Bangkok for follow-up treatment on July 5 next.
On November 5 last year, Raushon was flown to Thailand by an air ambulance as her health condition turned critical. She has been receiving treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital since then.
Earlier, Raushon Ershad, 78, underwent treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) as she fell ill seriously due to old age complications.
Mirza Fakhrul contracts Covid-19
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time.
“The BNP secretary general has been diagnosed with the coronavirus,” BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan told UNB.
He said Fakhrul underwent the Covid test in the morning as he was suffering from fever and the report came positive.
Sayrul said the BNP leader was infected with the virus for the second time though he had received the booster dose of the Covid vaccine.
Read: AL govt has become enemy of people: Fakhrul
He said Fahrul has been receiving treatment in isolation at his Uttra home under the supervision of medicine specialist Dr Raihan Rabbani.
On behalf of BNP and the family members, Sayrul urged people to pray for the speedy recovery of Fakhrul.
Earlier on January 11 last, Fakhrul and his wife Rahat Ara Begum were infected with coronavirus.