The government must release all political prisoners including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia before the 11th general election, Jatiya Oikya Front leader Dr Kamal Hossain said on Tuesday.
The eminent jurist also called for citizen voting rights to be ensured before the polls in a speech to a public rally organized by the newly formed political alliance at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.
“There is no rule of law in the country at the moment as people are being arrested and harassed everywhere,” Dr Kamal said.
“It would have been unacceptable if an elected government had done all these unlawful activities, so it’s obviously unacceptable from an unelected government. These are crimes (for which) the incumbent government will be held accountable.”
Dr Kamal also said the country’s independence would become “meaningless” if the elections were not fair, and he urged people to guard the polling centres on the day of the vote to ensure impartial balloting.
He told the people: "Guarding voting centres means protecting the right to vote, and protecting your franchise means safeguarding your independence.
Dr Kamal, who also heads Gono Forum, said Oikya Front members had come together for the sake of a credible election.
Top leaders of Jatiya Oikya Front on the stage of an alliance rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on November 6, 2018 | Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
“You are the country’s real owners - you need to wake up to establish your ownership,” he said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Monday had given Oikya Front the conditional permission to hold the rally, which kicked off at around 1:30pm on Tuesday and ended at around 5pm.
Leaders and activists of the coalition began gathering in large numbers at Suhrawardy Udyan from early in the morning, with a huge number of BNP leaders and activists seen carrying banners demanding Khaleda’s release, alongside supporters of other member parties of the alliance.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also addressed the rally, which was Oikya Front’s third since its formation last month.
He announced the alliance’s future programs, which include their fourth rally in Rajshahi city on Friday following rallies in Sylhet and Chittagong on October 24 and 27, respectively.
Movement pledged if dialogues fail
Most of the coalition leaders who addressed Tuesday’s rally urged the leaders and activists of Oikya Front member parties to continue their movement to press home their demands if their dialogue with the ruling party fails.
Oikya Front held its first dialogue with the Awami League-led 14-party alliance on November 1 and are due to hold the second round of talks with the ruling party on Wednesday morning.
BNP Standing Committee members Moudud Ahmed was another leader to speak at Tuesday’s rally.
“We will not accept BNP chief Khaleda’s release on parole - we will have her freed through our movement,” he said.
“The movement will become more inevitable if the dialogue fails to find a solution to the lingering political crisis. Only public rallies will not be enough to prepare for the movement.”
Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique addresses a public rally of the Jatiya Oikya Front at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on November 6, 2018 | Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Unity is paramount
Addressing the rally, Krishak Sramik Janata League (KSJL) President Abdul Kader Siddique urged BNP leaders and activists to remain united with the other members of the Oikya Front.
“I have joined Oikya Front, not BNP,” he said. “To win the election, BNP must represent Jatiya Oikya Front first and foremost, not just itself.”
The arch rival of ruling Awami League, BNP is a major element in the alliance which was formally launched on October 13.
Along with BNP, the other founding members included Gono Forum, JSD-Rab, Nagorik Oikya and a faction of Jatiya Oikya Prokriya. KSJL also joined the coalition on Monday.
Kader Siddique said an incarcerated Khaleda Zia is stronger than a free Khaleda Zia. “She has become the symbol democracy by going to jail,” he said.
Stressing the importance of the alliance’s unity, BNP leader Moyeen Khan said the government cannot be allowed to forcibly hold another one-sided election - “like it did in 2014”.
He said: “We have placed our seven demands. Our voting right must be restored. Khaleda Zia must be released.”
‘Demands must be met’
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rab) President ASM Abdur Rab told Tuesday’s rally that the government must meet all of their demands to ensure free and fair national polls. “Otherwise, the country and its people will suffer,” he said.
Abdur Rab said their movement was aimed at restoring freedom and democracy, but added that Khaleda Zia should be released first to ensure a participatory election.
“No more false cases should be filed or Oikya Front leaders and activists arrested,” he added.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rab) President ASM Abdur Rab addresses a public rally of the alliance at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on November 6, 2018 | Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna echoed his remarks, and said that the government must ensure a proper atmosphere for a participatory election.
Other speakers on Tuesday included BNP leaders Mirza Abbas, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Gayeshwar Chandara Roy; and Bangladesh Jatiya Party President Andaleeve Rahman Partho.
Oikya Front’s goals
Since its formation, Oikya Front has been campaigning to press home its seven-point charter of demands, which include release of Khaleda and all political prisoners from jail, an election held under an impartial polls-time government, the dissolution of parliament before the polls, and the reformation of the Election Commission.
The alliance is also pursuing 11 goals to fulfil if they win the polls and form the government.
They include ensuring checks and balances in the state power, the decentralization of administration, and freeing MPs from the stringent restrictions imposed on them under Article 70 of the constitution.
In addition, Oikya Front wants to see the formation of a constitutional commission to make appointments to all constitutional and other important posts, and the full independence of the judiciary.