Ershad asks people to leave AL, BNP

Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad on Thursday called upon all concerned to leave both the ruling Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and join his party. ‘Jatiya Party is gradually becoming a strong opposition party taking up the place of BNP. Leave AL and BNP and join Jatiya Party,’ said Ershad, also special envoy to prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, with the status of minister. Ershad took part in the prescheduled token mass hunger strike at the JP’s central office in Kakrail area of the capital and said that people across the country have been facing difficulties because of BNP-sponsored blockade and hartal programmes. He said democracy was now limited within the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban and its surrounding areas of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. JP, which is opposition in the parliament, observed the programme to protest at the ongoing `violence and political unrest’. The party is also demanding settlement of the current political crisis through a dialogue between prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia. Nearly 1,200 leaders and activists of the party took part in the five-hour long hunger strike which began around 11:00am. JP leaders Ziauddin Bablu, GM Qader and Sayed Abul Hossain Babla also joined the programme. On January 5, the BNP-led 20-party alliance called the nonstop blockade demanding a fresh election under a neutral administration. The protests have since turned violent, with at least 33 people already killed and around 900 injured, mostly in arson attacks.

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