Politics
BNP's 2-day programme to celebrate 44th founding anniversary
BNP on Tuesday planned a two-day programme, including rally and discussion, to celebrate its 44th founding anniversary on September 1.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programmes at a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office.
As per the programmes, the party flag will be hoisted atop the Nayapaltan central office and all other offices of BNP across the country at 6am on September 1.
Other than that, BNP senior leaders will place wreaths and offer fateha at the grave of its founder Ziaur Rahman at 12pm on the day.
Read:Won’t let sacrifices of slain leaders go in vain: BNP
Later, the leaders and activists of the party will take out a rally in front of BNP's Naypaltan central office at 3pm, marking the day.
The party will also arrange a discussion at 3 pm on September 2.
BNP's associate bodies and all their units across the country will mark the day with due respect by holding various programmes, including discussions and rallies.
On September 1, 1978, Ziaur Rahman formed BNP with a 19-point programme to build a self-reliant Bangladesh. BNP ruled the country for several terms.
Apart from the founding anniversary programme, Rizvi said BNP’s Dhaka south and north city units will arrange a human chain programme in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office on August 30 marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Won’t let sacrifices of slain leaders go in vain: BNP
Stating that their party has initiated a fresh movement across the country, including at the rural level, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday said their party will not let the sacrifices of its slain leaders and the tears of their families go in vain.
"We launched a fresh movement up to village level across the country from yesterday (Monday) protesting the hike in the prices of fuel and daily essentials and ongoing load-shedding. People of the entire country are coming out on the streets with brig processions at almost every upazila and thana,” he said.
Speaking at a programme, the BNP leader alleged that the ruling party ‘cadres’ attacked their party leaders and activists in different areas of the country, including in Laxmipur and Barishal to thwart the movement.
“The problem of Awami League and (Sheikh) Hasina is that they can’t suppress BNP even after so much repression, killing and enforced disappearance. BNP is rising from debris like Phoenix birds. This is the biggest reason behind their anger and fear.”
Jatiyatabadi Help Cell arranged the programme at BNP Chairperson's Gulshan office to provide financial assistance to the family members of some leaders and activists of the party and its associated bodies who were subjected to murder, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killing and repression in the ongoing democratic movement.
On behalf of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, the relatives of 14 victims from Bhola, Feni, Netrakona and Chittagong, including the family members of Swechchasebak Dal leader Abdur Rahim and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leader Noor-e-Alam who were killed in police firing in Bhola recently, re received financial assistance at the event.
Fakhrul said no democracy-loving people have now security in Bangladesh.
“The children, wives, mothers, brothers and sisters of Noor-e-Alam and Abdur Rahim are sitting over there. We won’t let their tears go in vain. We must turn Bangladesh into a welfare state for people by removing the dreadful monstrous regime,” he said.
Read: Govt must be ousted to end enforced disappearance, repression: Fakhrul
The BNP leader also promised that if BNP returns to power through a credible election, it will take all-out efforts to rehabilitate the family members of those who have been killed in the democratic movement and provide all necessary support to those who have been subjected to repression through the state mechanism.
Besides, he said their party has taken a decision to do everything possible to ensure that the families of Noor-e-Alam and Abdur Rahim can meet essential expenses for the rest of their lives.
Khaleda’s treatment
Fakhrul said the party’s ailing chairperson Khaleda Zia has been kept under house arrest. “She was taken to a hospital yesterday (Monday) for medical tests. Doctors said it is very urgent to send her abroad for her treatment. But the government is not allowing her to go.”
He said the government fears that if they allow Khaleda to go aboard and she recovers, they will not be able to face her.
“We have to wake up as we have no other alternative. We must establish a government of the people by ousting the monstrous regime through a movement,” the leader said.
He said many of their party leaders and activists were killed, tortured and made victims of enforced disappearance. “We the freedom fighters never imagine seeing such a Bangladesh.”
Referring to a recent report of Netra News on the horrific experiences of the enforced disappearance victims, the BNP leader said the intelligence agencies of the government pick up people and then repress them in their torture cell named ‘Ayana Ghar’.
“Our acting chairman Tariq Rahman himself said he was a victim of such torture. When he was arrested during the 1/11 political changeover he was brought to a torture cell in the name of remand. He was tortured there in a way that his spinal cord was broken,” he stated.
Bragging about development
Fakhrul said the government brags about turning Bangladesh into Singapore and Malaysia and raising people’s per capita income to $2,800. “But the tea workers on a movement demanding an increase in their daily wages to Tk300 from Tk120, while around 42 per cent of people have gone below the poverty line and they can’t eat meals twice a day.”
Referring to the statement of a tea worker, he said, they eat a roti dipped in tea in the morning and another roti in the afternoon while some rice and pulses or vegetables at night.
Read: Fuel price hike: BNP’s huge protest rally underway at Nayapaltan
“This is the condition of our workers even after 50 years of independence. Even though, they (govt) say we don’t see their development. "You people belonging to Awami League have made your own pockets heavier by taking money from people's pockets and have become rich and prosperous,” the BNP leader observed.
BCL's Thakurgaon functionary suspended over Bangabandhu remarks
Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) has suspended one of its leaders from Thakurgaon for allegedly making defamatory remarks on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the National Mourning Day programme.
The suspended leader has been identified as Arif Khan Joy, general secretary of BCL’s Samir Uddin Memorial College unit, according to a press release issued by the Thakurgaon BCL unit on Monday.
The district BCL unit has also asked Joy to submit a written explanation on the allegation brought against him within three days.
Also read: Police baton-charge BCL men in Barguna: Probe body finds 13 police at fault
It has warned of making recommendations to the BCL central committee president and general secretary for his expulsion in case the response is not satisfactory.
Also read: Eden College: BCL president threatens to drive out some students
On August 15, a 15-second video of Joy went viral on social media where he made the purported derogatory comments on Bangabandhu. After the video was brought to the district BCL unit’s attention, it decided to suspend him.
JCD leader held in Kushtia; foreign firearm recovered
Detectives arrested a local leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student front of the BNP, from Mirpur BGB sector along the Kushtia-Meherpur road on Monday.The arrestee is Khandkar Taslim Nishat, 22, member secretary of Kushtia District Chhatra Dal Convenor Committee.Kushtia District Detective Branch of Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nasir Uddin said a team of detectives conducted a drive in the area and arrested Nishat from the Mirpur BGB sector along Kushtia-Meherpur road.
Read: Inmates at overcrowded Faridpur jail suffer in absence of medical facilitiesThe law enforcers also seized a foreign pistol and two rounds of bullets from his possession, the OC added.However, Khandakar Tipu Sultan, father of Nishat, claimed that no arms and bullets were recovered from his son during the arrest.He said that his son was drinking tea with his friends while sitting in the canteen of BGB after appearing in court for a case on Monday.DB police arrested him from there, he added.
Attack on BNP leader Annie’s Laxmipur residence; 4 injured
At least four persons including the son of BNP`s Publicity Secretary Shaheed Uddin Chowdhury Annie, were injured in an alleged attack by Jubo League and Chhatra League men in his residence in Laxmipur district on Monday.The others injured are Annie's brother Arif Chowdhury, caretaker Shiblu and housemaid Md Manik.AL activists on Monday evening attacked the residence at Go Hata area of the town, said Sahabuddin Sabu, member secretary of district BNP.The BNP leader said around a hundred BCL activists on 40 motorcycles led by sadar thana Awami League President Humayun Kabir Patwari attacked Annie’s house, leaving 4 people injured.Several windows of the house, doors, air conditioners, tables and plastic chairs were vandalised during the attack.
Read: Two AL leaders die after car collides with lorry in CtgHowever, Annie was not at home as he went to attend a meeting organized by Sadar Upazila (West) BNP in Khilbaicha area.When contacted, local AL leader Patwari denied the allegations against him.On information, police forces have been sent, Mominul Haque, Inspector (Investigation) of Sadar Model Police Station, said.Legal action will be taken if complaints are received, he added.
Khaleda undergoes required medical tests at Evercare
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia underwent some medical tests at Evercare Hospital in the city on Monday, as a follow-up after coronary angioplasty.
“Madam (Khaleda) was taken to the hospital for some medical tests as per the advice of the medical board. She underwent Echo, ECG, USG, X-ray and some other blood tests,” said her personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.
Talking to reporters in front of the BNP chief’s Gulshan office, he also said Khaleda was supposed to undergo follow-up tests within four-to-six weeks of her angioplasty, that was done on June 11 - almost 10 weeks back.
“We could not do it at the right time," Zahid confessed. "So, she was taken to the hospital for those tests today (Monday) as a routine check-up on an urgent basis. Some tests were conducted today while some other tests will be done later after reviewing the reports."
The physician is hopeful of receiving all the test reports by Wednesday.
Zahid said Khaleda has been receiving treatment at her residence under the supervision of the medical board formed for the purpose.
He said the medical board members will also visit the BNP chief further and determine the next course of her treatment after examining the latest test reports.
Read: Seeking India’s help to stay in power against Bangladesh's interests, dignity: BNP
Dr Zahid said Khaleda Zia has liver, lung, arthritis, diabetes, hypertension and some other health problems. “There is no improvement in these problems.”
Stating that the BNP chief had three blocks in her arteries, he noted that only a stent was placed in her left coronary artery, opening up a passage that had recorded 95 percent blockage in one of the arteries. “The two other blocks remain in her left and middle arteries.”
He said the medical board again opined that the BNP chief’s treatment at a multidisciplinary advanced medical centre abroad is very urgent, due to her multiple chronic diseases and health problems.
Earlier, the BNP chief reached the hospital from her Gulshan residence around 4:45pm and underwent the medical tests. She left the hospital around 7:10pm and reached her residence at 7:55pm.
Khaleda, a 77-year-old former prime minister, has been suffering from various ailments.
On June 10, 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.
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, attaching the conditions that she would stay at her Gulshan house, and would not leave the country.
Seeking India’s help to stay in power against Bangladesh's interests, dignity: BNP
BNP on Sunday said Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen’s plea to India to keep the Awami League government in power is against the interests and dignity of an independent and sovereign country.
Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the foreign minister just created a ground for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to seek India’s favour during her visit to New Delhi next month to prop up her government again without voting.
He also said the government has been indulging in a plot against the country’s independence and sovereignty.
Also read: Fakhrul calls for ‘unbreakable’ unity to restore democracy
“Bangladesh is an independent sovereign state, not an organ of any other state. It depends on the desire of people whether or not the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh remains in power,” the BNP leader said.
Earlier at a Janmashtami programme in Chattogram on Thursday, FM Momen reportedly said that he urged the Indian government to back Hasina so she can stay in power.
Rizvi said the foreign minister’s remark has exposed the government’s knee-jerk foreign policy.
In the wake of the ministers’ different comments on his statement, the BNP leader said the foreign minister reaffirmed that he did not say anything wrong and he took the responsibility for what he said.
“Sheikh Hasina has entrusted him (Momen) with the responsibility for lobbying in this regard. Sheikh Hasina is going to India in September to curry its favour to remain in power. Abdul Momen has created the ground for it,” he observed.
Also read: BNP demands explanation of Momen's statement on India
Slamming the ruling party leaders for their comments that Momen is no one of the Awami League, Rizvi said the foreign minister became the MP from Sylhet city seat with the party ticket as he is the No-1 member of the Awami League’s Sylhet city unit. “He (Momen) did not give his statement personally as he did it using the position of the foreign minister.”
He said the foreign minister's statement has made it clear to the people that the current government is staying in power with the help of foreign governments. “The foreign minister has also made it clear that they want to remain in power without voting in the days to come. The government has become an enemy of the people because it has been in power by force at gunpoint for 13 years with the help of different countries.”
Fakhrul calls for ‘unbreakable’ unity to restore democracy
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday urged people of all communities, including the Hindus, to forge ‘unbreakable’ unity to restore democracy in the country.
"There will never be peace and no community or individual will be safe in a country where democracy is not established,” he said
Stating that democracy is now absent in the country, the BNP leader said the current government has snatched people’s all rights, including the right to vote, to establish a one-party rule and hang on to power.
"What we now need is our unbreakable unity. We all political parties and all communities, including Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian, should unite to establish our right for which we fought in 1971, and to bring back our right to freedom, our right to sovereignty and our democratic rights,” he said.
The BNP Secretary General made the call while exchanging greetings with the leaders of the Hindu community at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office on the occasion of Janmashtami, marking the birth of Lord Krishna.
Read: AL set to observe 18th anniversary of August 21 grenade attack on Sunday
Fakhrul alleged that the Hindu community members have been tortured while their temples and places of worship have been attacked repeatedly since Awami League came to power. “Not only the Hindu community has been attacked but also the Buddhist and Christian communities have been attacked equally. That is the reality.”
He said Lord Krishna appeared on this earth to take mankind from darkness to the light alongside restoring the rights of people that were snatched by the oppressors. “The situation prevailing in Bangladesh now has the similarity in many ways with the time when Lord Krishna appeared."
On behalf of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tariq Rahman, Fakhrul greeted the members of the Hindu community on the occasion of Janmashtami.
BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Abdul Moyeen Khan, and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, party leaders Netai Roy Chowdhury, Sukomal Barua, Jayant Kumar Kund, Aparna Roy, Ramesh Dutta, Sushil Barua, Debashish Roy Madhu, Kamaksha Chandra Das, Tarun Dey, Milton Baidya, Joydeb Joy, Suranjan Ghosh and Ganoforum leader Subrata Chowdhury were among others, present at the programme chaired by BNP chairperson's advisory council member Bijan Kanti Sarkar.
AL set to observe 18th anniversary of August 21 grenade attack on Sunday
The ruling Awami League, its front and associate bodies will observe the eighteenth anniversary of August 21 grenade attacks.
The grenade attack on an Awami League (AL) anti-terrorism rally in the capital was carried out on August 21, 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government on Bangabandhu Avenue.
They have chalked out elaborate programmes across the country, maintaining health guidelines in wake of the COVID-19 situation.
According to Press release, a discussion will be held at 10:30 am to recall the victims of the dreadful in memory of those killed in the August 21 grenade attacks.
Also read: 17th anniversary of Grenade Attack on AL rally beckons
Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over it.
Earlier, wreath will be placed at the altar build for the 21 August martyrs in front of the Awami League central office at Bangabandhu Avenue tomorrow.
General Secretary of Awami League and Minister of Road Transport Obaidul Quader called upon the leaders, workers, supporters and well-wishers of Awami League and its allies and fraternal organizations at all levels to observe the Grenade Attack Day on August 21 with due dignity along with the countrymen following the health rules.
24 people including the then Women Affairs Secretary of Awami League and wife of late President Zillur Rahman were killed and over 500 others injured in the attack and many of them became crippled for life.
Also read: Nation remembers Aug 21 grenade attack victims
Those were killed in the grenade attack are- the then opposition leader's personal security guard Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rashid, Abul Kalam Azad, Rezina Begum, Nasir Uddin Sardar, Atique Sarkar, Abdul Kuddus Patwari, Aminul Islam Moazzem, Belal Hossain, Mamun Mridha, Ratan Shikdar, Liton Munshi, Hasina Mamtaz Reena, Sufia Begum, Rafiqul Islam (Ada Chacha), Mostaque Ahmed Sentu, Md Hanif, Abul Kashem, Zahed Ali, Momen Ali, M Shamsuddin and Ishaque Miah.
Those who suffered serious splinter injuries included Sheikh Hasina, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, Obaidul Quader, Advocate Sahara Khatun, Mohammad Hanif, Prof Abu Sayeed, and AFM Bahauddin Nasim.
AL's strength drawn from the people: Info Minister
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Friday said their party is not dependent on any foreign force, rather the people of Bangladesh are the key source of the Awami League's strength.
"We have good relations with all countries and India is our true friend".
The Minister made these remarks while addressing a discussion meeting on 'Bangabandhu Assassination: Politics of Post-75 Bangladesh' marking the 47th Martyrdom Anniversary and National Mourning Day of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Hall of Chittagong Press Club on Friday evening.
Recalling August 15, Hasan, also AL joint general secretary said, 'Imam Hussain was slaughtered in Karbala but no women and children were killed there.
On August 15, 1975, 10-year-old child Sheikh Russell, four-year-old Sukanto Babu, and 11-year-old Baby Serniabat were killed. Even pregnant Begum Arzoo Moni did not escape the killers.
“A crime against humanity was indeed committed that day,” added the minister.
Read: Moscow reaffirms its commitment to strengthen cooperation with Dhaka
Now, it is our responsibility to unmask the conspirators involved in the August 15 massacre including Ziaur Rahman and his family members, who are the most beneficiaries of this massacre.
“They are still continuing their conspiracies as the country heading towards another national election”, he added.
M A Salam, president of Chattogram North District Awami League presided over the meeting while Joint General Secretary Debashish Palit moderated the meeting.
General Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Ataur Rahman, Vice President Hero Freedom Fighter Professor Mohammad Moinuddin, Abul Kalam Azad, ATM Payrul Islam, Mohiuddin Ahmed Rashed, Swajan Kumar Talukder, among others, spoke.