BNP Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu on Friday stressed the need for all-out resistance against the extortionists and miscreants as they try to create chaos in the country.

“The country is ours. Some masked men are creating chaos everywhere. They are trying to extort money. BNP has clearly called them miscreants…..no compromise should be made here,” he said while addressing a sit-in programme in the city.

Bangladesh Nagorik Odhikar Andolan organised the programme in front of the National Press Club to demand the withdrawal of the false cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.

Dudu said their leader Tarique Rahman asked for resisting the miscreants and handing them over to the police.

He said BNP has opposed these malefactors for 17 years, no matter whoever they are, for the interests of the people, the country, the economy and the politics.

“There is no way to support these miscreants. You will have to bring them to book wherever they are found,” he said.

Many pro-democratic persons not released yet:

The BNP leader said this interim government released BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and the BNP also welcomed it.

But there are some 60 lakh accused in 2.5 lakh cases against leaders and activists of BNP and the opposition parties, including Begum Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, he said

“They fought for democracy. Many are still in jail...Some are in jail with life sentences and death sentences. They have not been released yet,” said Dudu.

He said the withdrawal of the cases and their release should be considered as a major task of the government as it assumed power to restore democracy in the country following the movement.

Some people fear voting:

In an oblique reference to Jamaat-e-Islami, he said some people and political parties fear to go to election due their poor performance in the past.

“There are some people and some parties who win 19 seats even if they are with us. If they are with Awami League leaving us, they get only three seats….. So, they will fear the vote. It is nothing unusual,” said Dudu.

BNP joint secretary general Khairul Kabir Khokan and it's training affairs secretary ABM Mosharraf Hossain, among others, spoke at the event.

Convenor of Nagorik Odhikar Andolan M Jahangir Alam presided over the programme moderated by its general secretary Mofazzel Hossain Hridoy.