BNP not a terrorist party: Khaleda

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday asked why only BNP was branded as a ‘terrorist party’ and blamed for transport arsons and reminded the critics that Awami League had killed people during its ‘oar-and-stick’ movement and torched vehicles. She said BNP was not a ‘terrorist party’ it was rather a ‘democratic party’ which believed in peace. Khaleda claimed that the police admitted that their men had set fire to buses and hurled firebombs during her party’s recent movement and asked why cases were not filed against police. ‘False’ cases were filed against the BNP men and they should be released, she added. Khaleda came up with the statements when briefly addressing an iftar party hosted by Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Oikya, a platform of pro-BNP lawyers, at the Supreme Court bar auditorium. The BNP chairperson said judiciary had been separated but it was not independent rather it was now in a firmer grip. She said freedom of judiciary had been curtailed and snatched away. Khaleda said that although it was claimed that the judiciary was now independent, parliament had been empowered to remove judges to have more control over it. ‘There is no justice and rule of law in the country,’ she said. Khaleda said not a single leader and activist of the BNP would be found who was not facing cases. She asked whether everyone of BNP was an offender and all of Awami League or 14-party alliance had turned ‘sufis’. ‘Those who killed 20,000 to 30,000 people in the past have now washed their hands clean,’ she said. She claimed that judiciary had worked independently during BNP’s rule. Khaleda said cases were filed against men of BNP and its allies and they were put in jail indiscriminately accusing them of burning transports. Khaleda said BNP did not indulge in such activities adding that the judges could understand it if the lawyers could prove who had committed such offence. She wanted to know why the issue of transport arson was being dug out now. ‘One should recall who for the first time in this country had burnt people alive spreading gun powder in a moving bus,’ she said claiming that Awami League’s terrorists had committed the crime. She said AL had violated election rules during the recent city polls but the Election Commission had turned a blind eye. Khaleda also asked how many of the police and RAB who had killed and abducted people had been put on trial. Supreme Court Bar association president Khandker Mahbub Hossain and secretary Mahbub Uddin Khokon also spoke. BNP standing committee members Moudud Ahmed and Jamiruddin Sircar, party vice-chairman Abdullah Al Noman, former Dhaka University vice-chancellor Emajuddin Ahamed, economist Mahbub Ullah, senior journalist Mahfuz Ullah and leaders of different bars and pro-BNP lawyers associations attended the iftar. News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net