Govt playing with fire, warns BNP

BNP’s senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Sunday warned the government saying they are playing with fire by taking the decision of revoking gallantry title of party's founder Ziaur Rahman, reports UNB.

Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader said, “You (govt) are playing with fire by conspiring to repeal his (Zia's) title and your hands will be burnt to ashes. No one has the right to touch his title.”

Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal and Muktijuddher Projonmo arranged the programme at the jatiya press club protesting the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council's (Jamuka's) move to revoke Bir Uttam title conferred on Zia for his contributions to the Liberation War.

Mosharraf, a BNP standing committee member, said the current government has been in power based on lies, immorality, and unfairness. "So, they used to tell lies and indulge in wrongdoings."

He said the government has established an economy of plundering as there's no good governance, justice, and democracy in the country. "You can't show a place where they have done any good job and established fairness. The stinks of their misdeeds have spread not only in Bangladesh but also abroad."

The BNP leader also said the government turned down news channel Al Jazeera's recent report on Bangladesh with political statements instead of tackling it with facts and documents.

He said The Economist magazine also ran a report on Bangladesh, but the government still did not dare to protest it while the prime minister's foreign affairs advisor Gowher Rizvi could not give proper answers to any question during an interview by Deutsche Welle.

Meanwhile, the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council at a meeting on 9 February discussed the ways to revoke the gallantry title of Ziaur Rahman for 'violating' the constitution, 'abetting' the self-proclaimed killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in escaping the country.

Bir Uttam, the second-highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh, was conferred on Ziaur Rahman for his contributions to the Liberation War as a sector commander.