AL kills spirit of independence, says Fakhrul

Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul islam Alamgir on Tuesday alleged that the ruling Awami League claimed themselves as the preserver and carrier of the independence war but the spirit of the war was killed repeatedly by them.

Inaugurating a procession celebrating the 49th Victory Day at BNP central office at Naya Paltan in Dhaka, he said that the Awami League killed democracy by initiating Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League in 1975 and the country witnessed famine during their regime.

‘The Awami League now remains in power forcibly and made the whole country a prison by lodging cases against our lakhs of leaders and activists,’ he alleged.

He said that the government prepared list of collaborators of the Pakistani marauding military with an ill political motive.

Fakhrul questioned the need of such a list after 48 years and said that huge mistakes were already detected in the list.

‘They [ministers] were saying the list was prepared by the Pakistanis. If so, the Pakistanis’ list of Razakars will not be the list of our country,’ he said.

He said that Awami League had been using the war of independence as a political tool and using it for ill political gains.

 ‘This government had prepared different lists for their political need with ill motive. These lists were published for demeaning BNP,’ he said.

The list of collaborators features the names of collaborators in different categories like politicians, peace committee members, government officials, professionals and members of the auxiliary forces of the occupation forces like Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams.

Thousands of leaders and activists of the party and freedom fighters from different corners of the capital participated in the Tuesday’s procession that began from BNP central office at Naya Paltan at about 3:15pm.

They thronged the party office and its adjacent areas as they came in small processions carrying national flags, BNP’s

electoral symbol ‘sheaf of paddy’, posters and banners of BNP’s founder Ziaur Rahman, chairperson Khaleda Zia, and

acting chairman Tarique Rahman.

With the freedom fighters in the forefront, followed by women activists and BNP leaders and activists, the participants marched the streets to the beats of drums and tunes of flutes.

They chanted slogans remembering the freedom fighters and the party founder Ziaur Rahman, denouncing arrest of thousands of party leaders and activists in ‘fictitious cases’ and to press home their demand to release ailing and aged Khaleda.

BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Selima Rahman also spoke.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net