A certain party doesn’t speak against AL, just to get their votes: Salahuddin Ahmed

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, “There is a party that does not utter a single word against the Awami League in order to get the Awami League’s votes.”

He made these remarks at a party event at the Krishibid Institution auditorium in Farmgate, Dhaka on Friday morning.

The event titled “Plan for Building the Nation,” organised on the occasion of Victory Month, was attended by leaders from the private university wing of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Mirpur Bangla College, Tejgaon College, Titumir College, various women leaders from Dhaka units, and former and current members of the central committee of Chhatra Dal.

Referring to a particular party, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “They keep twisting their words, saying they supported the Liberation War. Sometimes we ask –was that Liberation War in support of Pakistan? After some days, they may even claim that they alone fought the Liberation War, that we did not. You will hear many such statements during the election campaign. But the people of Bangladesh are very aware. You can no longer ask for votes by selling religion. We must go to grassroots with our plans.”

Addressing the Awami League, the BNP standing committee member said, “Those who shot and killed their own citizens from helicopters, who killed hundreds of thousands of people including women and children, who carried out genocide – let us not forget that history.”

Referring to the recently published ‘white paper’ on Bangladesh’s economy, Salahuddin Ahmed said that the amount of money embezzled by the Awami League could fund two education budgets of Bangladesh. Three health budgets could be funded.

With the looting that took place from the banking and non-banking financial sectors, the politically sanctioned loans that were plundered – 24 Padma Bridges could have been built. Fourteen metro systems could have been constructed. The amount of money laundered from Bangladesh through banking sector looting stands at around Tk 29.25 trillion, he added.

Salahuddin Ahmed also spoke about the announcement of the schedule for the 13th parliamentary election.

He said, “For the democratic journey to be institutionally strengthened in various ways, there must be democratic transition. A successful announcement of that democratic transition was made yesterday, which we are calling the election schedule.”

Without naming any party, the BNP leader further said, “Some have said ‘No PR, no election.’ Some have said ‘First local government elections, otherwise no election.’ And some have said if a referendum and the election are held on the same day, we will not accept it. I don’t want to name anyone. They are on the anti-democratic side. They want democracy in their own way. Their definition of democracy is different.”

The event was conducted by BNP Joint Secretary General Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel and presided over by the party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.