BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday urged the government to immediately free the party's ailing chairperson and thrice-former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, without any conditions attached.
Otherwise, he warned the government of dire consequences.
Speaking at a mammoth rally in the capital, the BNP’s largest public show of strength this year, he also called upon the opposition leaders and workers to put up a strong resistance against the current ‘barbaric’ Awami League government braving the fear of death.
“We would like to clearly say, free our leader immediately (without any conditions). Otherwise, you have to prepare for any consequence,” the BNP leader said.
Fakhrul also said the country’s people will no longer let Khaleda unfairly stay in jail. “You (govt) have to keep it in mind.”
Stating that the country is not safe in the hands of the current 'looter regime', he called upon the country’s people to take to the streets to remove Awami League from power.
The BNP leader also said their party will intensify the movement to protect the country from Awami League’s misrule and restore people’s lost rights. “We have no other alternatives. This government's presence means destruction for our country, democracy and our people."
He alleged that the government has jailed Khaleda and many BNP leaders with an intention to obliterate democracy.
Recalling the BNP chief’s role in different democratic movements, Fakhrul said there is no scope to separate Khaleda and the country's democracy. “Begum Khaleda Zia is a symbol of our democracy and our movement. We must get united to free her to protect our democracy and our rights.”
He called upon all opposition parties to start a simultaneous movement both for the restoration of democratic rights and for the unconditional release of Khaleda.
Citing a poem by Shakespeare, the BNP leader said, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once… There’s no pride in dying from fear. We must resist this regime with courage instead of succumbing to fear."
BNP arranged the rally in front of its Nayapaltan central office, demanding the unconditional release of Khaleda Zia. It was in fact the first major rally arranged by BNP in eight months since the pivotal events of October 28 last year, following which almost the entire leadership of the party active in Bangladesh was jailed.