Khaleda to be freed thru mass uprising: BNP
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday said that its imprisoned chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia would be freed through movement and mass uprising to free democracy and establish people’s rights.
Senior BNP leaders made the comments while addressing a rally in front of the party central office in the capital as part of the party’s countrywide demonstration demanding Khaleda’s release to mark the second anniversary of the former prime minister’s imprisonment.
Khaleda, now 74, is in jail since February 8, 2018, the day she was convicted by a special court in Dhaka in a graft case which the BNP terms false and fabricated. Ailing Khaleda was shifted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University on February 8, 2014.
Thousands of leaders and activists from different corners of Dhaka and nearby districts joined the rally in processions parading banners and placards that read their demand for Khaleda’s release.
Addressing the Dhaka rally as the chair, the party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also announced to the rally that the BNP would hold countrywide demonstrations on February 15 demanding release of Khaleda.
He said that Khaleda, an uncompromising leader of democracy, was in jail in a false and fabricated case as part of political vengeance and that his party would compel the government to free Khaleda.
Mentioning Khaled’s serious illness and her inability to move or eat on her own, he alleged that she was not given bail as the judiciary was not independent, the government was influencing the courts and as the government did not believe in the rule of law.
Alleging that the government had destroyed democracy, the spirit of the War of Independence, he added that restoring democracy was not possible without freeing Khaleda.
‘Khaleda Zia will be freed through movement, through mass uprising,’ he said.
He alleged that the people rejected the government in December 30, 2018 general elections and also in February 1 Dhaka city elections while pointing to the fact that the government had no people’s mandate now and stayed in power forcibly using the state organs.
The BNP leader further alleged that the government had destroyed the country’s economy as the country had been witnessing a decreasing trend in export and revenue income while corruption ran amok.
The BNP leader demanded scrapping of Dhaka city elections and to hold new elections to elect people’s mayors.
He urged the government to resign and to hold fresh national elections under a neutral government and election commission to elect people’s representatives.
Addressing the rally as the chief guest, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharrof Hossain claimed that the government had snatched victory from their two candidates in February 1 Dhaka city mayoral elections.
He termed their two candidates in city elections as ‘mayors of people’ and those declared elected by the Election Commission as ‘mayors of machine’, criticising the use of electronic voting machine in the election.
BNP standing committee members Moudud Ahmed, Mirza Abbas, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, among others, also spoke.
New Age correspondent in Sylhet reported that the BNP staged demonstrations in Sylhet on Saturday as part of the party’s countrywide programme. They brought out a procession from Court Point in the afternoon and held a rally at Zindabazar in the city after parading through several main roads in the city.
Presided over by district BNP convener Kamrul Huda Zaygirder, the rally was also addressed by its leaders Abul Kaher Shamim, Ali Ahmed, Abdul Kaiyum Chowdhury, Abdul Mannan, Fakhrul Islam Faruk, and Emran Ahmad Chowdhury, among others.
Similar programmes were also held in district towns including Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshhsi, Gazipur, Jashore, Manikganj, Feni, Lakshmipur and Kushtia, New Age correspondents reported.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
