AL won’t get even 30 seats if election held under neutral govt: Fakhrul

Most of the Awami League candidates will lose their security money if the next national election is held under a non-party neutral government, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said.

"Awami League won’t get even 30 seats if the election is held under a caretaker or neutral government. Their (most AL) candidates will lose their security deposit,” the BNP leader added.

Speaking at an extended meeting of the Thakurgaon district unit BNP at his local residence on Monday, Fakhrul said the ruling party is against the caretaker government as it knows it will face a debacle in a fair and credible election.

Stating that political parties in Bangladesh do not trust each other, he said the caretaker government is the only solution in the current culture of Bangladesh’s politics to overcome the political crisis and have a fair and inclusive election.

The BNP leader alleged that the government has been carrying out false campaigns and indulging in various misdeeds to divert the people’s democratic movement, demanding the restoration of the caretaker government system and rights of people and the resignation of this government, to a different direction.

He urged the government to refrain from conducting ‘false’ campaigns against BNP.

Fakhrul alleged that the government wants to retain power by holding another ‘stage-managed’ election as they have already destroyed the electoral system. “But this time it won’t happen. The country’s people have woken up and they want to exercise their right to franchise.”

The BNP secretary general alleged that the government was behind the communal attacks on the Ahmadiyya community in Panchagarh. “This happened with the direct and indirect backing of the government. The government must shoulder the responsibility for the incident.”

He added Awami League leaders are blaming BNP for the communal attacks only to tarnish the image of the opposition party and hide the real offenders.

“Panchagarh incident was premeditated. It’s also an unexpected incident. The image of the country has been somewhat damaged while the image of the government has been seriously dented because of the incident,” Fakhrul observed.

He alleged that the government has orchestrated the incident to thwart the BNP’s movement that was moving ahead in full swing.

Fakhrul also said the people of the Ahmadiyya community clearly said in front of railways minister Nurul Islam Sujan that people around him were involved in this violence. “Among them, Abdur Rahman's name is notable. But none of them were arrested by the police, and no case was filed against them.”

He alleged that the government is trying to eliminate BNP leaders and activists in Panchagarh taking an advantage of the attacks on the Ahmadiyya community.

The BNP leader said cases have been filed against BNP leaders and workers and 180 of them have already been arrested. “A reign of terror has been created in Panchagarh. BNP leaders and supporters now can’t stay at home.”

He said attacking the Ahmadiyya community and damaging their houses and looting their valuables was a brutal and inhuman incident.

Even after such a horrific incident, Fakhrul said the government has been trying to put the blame on BNP instead of carrying out an impartial and fair investigation to identify the real perpetrators.

He bemoaned that some media outlets have been carrying out false propaganda involving BNP with communal violence. “The media should always play a neutral role. If you (journalists) don't play a neutral role, people will remember it and give a fitting reply when the time comes.”