External force running country: BNP

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday said the activities of the current government give an impression that a 'non-political and external force' runs the country.

"I find no similarity between the current Bangladesh Awami League and the pre-1971 Awami League. Once it had struggled for the independence, democracy and people's rights, but now it has become the most repressive party," he said.

Speaking at an extended meeting of Thakurgaon district unit BNP and its associate bodies at a guesthouse in the district town, Fakhrul further said, "It seems to me the country is now run by a non-political and external force from outside Bangladesh."

He alleged that Bangladesh Awami League (AL) is suppressing its opponents and the alternative opinions only to hang onto power by force.

The BNP leader said though their party chief Khaleda Zia got bail from the apex court in the case she was convicted, the government is not releasing her as part of its 'evil plan' to keep her away from politics and the next election.

He said the government has kept Khaleda in jail exploiting various tricks and implicating her in 'false' cases as it has got completely isolated from people.

"Khaleda Zia was supposed to come out of jail three months back through legal means. But, the government is delaying her release by implicating her in cases after cases. She has been kept in a solitary confinement," Fakhrul observed.

He called upon BNP leaders and activists to get ready for foiling, together with people, all evil designs of the current ‘autocratic government' and restore democracy and people's rights.