BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday apprehended that the way the political situation in the country is evolving could lead to a serious confrontation on the streets, unless the government takes responsibility to resolve all the disputes regarding the election.
“I can see a confrontational situation ahead. The responsibility lies with the government to resolve all the disputes,” he said
The BNP leader came up with the comments in a meeting to exchange views with members of the Overseas Correspondents Association Bangladesh (OCAB), a platform of Dhaka-based journalists working for foreign media outlets, at BNP chairperson's Gulshan office.
Fakhrul reiterated the BNP’s stance that there is no way they will join the next election if it is held under a political government.
He accused the government of harassing opposition BNP leaders and activists and barring them from joining the anti-government rallies.
The BNP leader, who was elected from the Bogura-6 constituency in the 2018 election but famously refused to take oath as an MP, said obstacles were being created by the intelligence agencies and administration to foil the opposition rallies.
He said their people were being intimidated. “The intelligence people are sitting with the DCs and SPs and giving decisions to foil our programs,” he said.
Replying to a question, Fakhrul said their party will present the formula for an election-time caretaker government before the people at an appropriate time. “If the government has any sense of responsibility, it will accept that.”
Mirza Fakhrul was keen to stress that BNP wants to establish democracy in Bangladesh in its truest sense, for the betterment of the country and its people.
Pledging national government, fate of DSA
He also said that if they win the next election, the BNP would form a national government with all the parties that participate in their planned simultaneous movement with the common objective of restoring the country’s democracy – something that has been mooted before by the party’s exiled acting chairperson, Tarique Rahman.
“We will then resolve all the existing problems in the country with the united efforts of them all,” Fakhrul said.
He also promised to revoke all the repressive laws, including the Digital Security Act, if the BNP gets to form the government.
The party’s standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, media cell convenor Zahir Uddin Swapan, member-secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, and its members Barrister Rumeen Farhana, MP, Kader Gani Chowdhury and Sayrul Kabir Khan, among others, participated in the meeting with the correspondents of important global outlets.
OCAB convenor and BBC correspondent Qadir Kallol, its member secretary and German news agency DPA correspondent Nazrul Islam Mithu, and senior members including UNB Editor Farid Hossain, Manabzamin editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, and Bangladesh bureau chief of the Associated Press (AP) Julhas Alam, were among the journalists present.
Representatives from Reuters, AFP, and other foreign media outlets also attended the programme.