BNP allies extend support to protests for Khaleda’s release

Allies of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday expressed solidarity with BNP’s programmes for unconditional release of its chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Top leaders of the BNP-led alliance at a meeting at Khaleda’s Gulshan office pm with BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in the chair also decided to spell out programmes in near future for the release of Khaleda, jailed for five years on February 8.
The alliance leaders would go for district visits soon to campaign against the verdict, meeting sources said.
After the meeting, Fakhrul told reporters that the alliance would actively take part in BNP’s three-day protests from today.
He said that the meeting decided to talk to other political parties for expanding the alliance.
Replying to a question, Fakhrul said that Khaleda still was the chief of the alliance and there should be no doubt about it. 
He said that he would work as the coordinator of the alliance.
The meeting decided that Fakhrul would preside over the alliance meetings until Khaleda was released, the sources said.
Fakhrul said that acting BNP chairman Tarique Rahman, now in London, addressed the meeting over phone urging for forging unity of people to restore democracy.
The meeting condemned convicting Khaleda in a ‘false’ case and sending her to jail. 
Alliance leaders including Abdul Halim of Jamaat-e-Islami, Andaleev Rahman Partha of Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Redwan Ahmed of Liberal Democratic Party, Mostafa Zamal Haider of Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar), Syed Muhammad Ibrahim of Kalyan Party, Fariduzzaman Farhad of National Peoples Party and Saifuddin Moni of Democratic League, among others, attended the meeting. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net