Govt renewed its strategy of implicating BNP men in fictitious cases: Fakhrul
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the government has restarted the strategy of implicating BNP men in fictitious cases.
Fakhrul said this while speaking at the party’s Sylhet divisional rally at Alia Madrasa ground at the city on Saturday.
Fakhrul in his 24-minute speech urged prime minister Sheikh Hasina to step down, handing over power to a neutral polls time government.
Expressing his gratitude to the party men for joining the rally in such huge numbers, Fakhrul said, “You have started a new struggle. This is the struggle for your emancipation, and this is the struggle to get back your rights. This is the struggle to get back you voting rights. Sylhet is the place where our liberation war started. The struggle of Sylhet never stopped.”
Remembering the former finance minister M Saifur Rahman, Fakhrul said, “Your leader Saifur Rahman started a new war to free Bangladesh’s economy. He was the catalyst behind the today’s progress of Bangladesh. Your history is of pride and struggle. This is why I say the struggle has started from this holy land of Sylhet today. We must win this war.”
He also remembered BNP leader M Elias Ali who ‘disappeared’ and said the BNP leader’s wife is still struggling, along with the people.
Fakhrul also remembered victims of enforced disappearance.
He said lower-income people including farmers are going through a tough time as the prices of all essential commodities have shot up.
“Did not they promise to give a kg rice for Tk 10? What is the price now? 70 or 80?” he said adding that the current government has shattered the dreams of 30 million unemployed youth.
“Sheikh Hasina and her government has rendered the country a basket case by resorting to repression for last 14 years. Is the Awami League an elected government? Was there any vote in 2014? No. The voting in 2018 was finished the night before. Then they bragged of winning the election.”
He said the AL government will have to face the trial in people’s court for snatching all democratic rights away.
BNP’s standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy spoke as special guest at the rally presided over by Sylhet district BNP’s president Abdul Quayum Chowdhury. Standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan and joint secretary general Moazzem Hossain spoke at the rally as special guests.
The mass rally started about two and half hours earlier than the scheduled time. The rally began at 11:30am through reciting from the holy Quran. A huge number of BNP leaders-activists turned up from the morning.
The party has been organising the rallies protesting against the price hike of essential commodities, demanding the next parliamentary election under a caretaker government and the release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Though no strike was called before the second rally of BNP in Mymensingh (the first one was held in Chattogram on 12 October), transport movement was halted there. Since then, the transport owners and workers enforced strikes before the rallies in Khulna, Rangpur, Barishal and Faridpur.
Goyeshwar Chandra Roy said the government has tried to foil every divisional rally of BNP by resorting to various tricks but the people has given them their replies. The government has to spend four times to foil the rallies than the BNP spent to organise these.
Moyeen Khan said BNP will establish the democracy in the country again and give people back their voting rights.
BNP leader and Sylhet city corporation mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury the people have expressed their no confidence on the government by staying at the rally venue for three days.
BNP leaders and activists from three districts of Sylhet joined the rally in huge numbers defying transport strikes called throughout the division.