BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday alleged that the ruling party leaders are trying to mislead people with their contradictory comments on political talks over the next election.

“Awami League is very good at diverting people’s attention and taking one issue to another direction. The three leaders of the Awami League spoke in three ways about the dialogue. As people have become angry over the power crisis, they’re creating another issue to divert it,” he said.

Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader said Awami League advisory council member Amir Hossain Amu has created an uproar with his remarks on dialogue to resolve political deadlock over the next general election.

“Later, the spokesperson of Awami League said this is not their statement. Again in the afternoon, the Home Minister said there is no alternative to dialogue. In fact, their main aim is to mislead people,” he said.

The BNP leader said the ruling party leaders are also trying to divert people’s attention to a different direction from their demand for holding the next election under a neutral non-party government. “The people can understand everything.”

University Teachers Association of Bangladesh (UTAB) arranged the programme at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU), marking the death anniversary of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman.

Earlier on Tuesday, Amu said at a programme organised by the AL-led 14-party alliance at the AL headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue that the door for dialogue with BNP is open.

“Let a representative of the UN come. We want to sit with the BNP face-to-face and see where the differences are,” he added.

Fakhrul said there is no alternative to holding the next election under a non-party government as the ruling party has destroyed the electoral system of the country.

He urged the government to quit and dissolve parliament by handing over power to a non-party-neutral government to avoid public wrath.

“The people of the country know what to do as they have achieved everything by fighting. From the language of 52 to the caretaker government, everything has been achieved through struggles,” the BNP leader observed.

He said their party has long been carrying out a movement to restore the voting rights of the people so that they can elect their representatives to run the country. “If we can't exercise our right to vote, then how can we become a citizen of an independent country?"

Fakhrul said the journalists in Bangladesh now cannot write freely due to different laws, including the Digital Security Act, enacted by the current fascist government.

"Everybody and the entire journalist community have been demanding the annulment of the Digital Security Act. Even, the United Nations Human Rights Commission has said that this act should be repealed. But they (govt) are not paying heed to it in fear of losing power,” he said.

The BNP leader called upon the teachers to get united and be vocal against the misdeeds and the misrule of the current government.