BNP plans to intensify movement for Khaleda’s release

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia. Prothom Alo File Photo
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia. Prothom Alo File Photo

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Saturday decided take a series of action programmes to intensify its demonstration for the release of its chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail.

According to UNB, the decision was taken at a meeting of BNP standing committee members at its chairperson's Gulshan office.

Briefing the reporters after the meeting, party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "Our meeting has decided to intensify the movement alongside taking necessary legal steps for having Khaleda Zia freed from jail."

The BNP leader also said they are now working out their series of programmes and those will be announced by four weeks.

On 22 June, the party policymakers decided to announce their action programmes at all the divisions, including Dhaka, by a month.

At today's meeting, Fakhrul said they discussed various issues, including the latest political and law-and-order situation in the country, Rifat murder and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's ongoing agitation.

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman joined the meeting from London through Skype.

Fakhrul said their meeting strongly condemned the killing of Rifat by stabbing in broad daylight in Barguna on Wednesday. "Our meeting thinks such murder incidents are growing due to the failure and apathy of the government and the law enforcers."

He said the government has no accountability to people since it was not elected by them. "People have lost their confidence in the state organisations as their rights were snatched resorting to terrorism and using arms in the 30-December election."

The BNP leader said Bangladesh is gradually turning into a "dysfunctional state" as serious economic, political and social crises are prevailing in the country.

Fakhrul criticised liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque for his comment about removing BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's grave from the Jatiya Sangsad premises. "He used to make such comments. We think they (AL) only expose their political bankruptcy with such remarks."

BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Selima Rahman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku were present at the meeting.