Left-wing parties Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) on Wednesday urged the main opposition BNP to cut ties with its key ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
“Among some of the major dangers ahead of us, militancy and anti-liberation forces are the first danger for our country. We urged the BNP chairperson to leave anti-liberation force Jamaat-e-Islami for the interest of the country,” CPB President Mujahidul Islam Selim told journalists at a press briefing after holding a meeting with BNP chief Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office. BNP’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was present.
He also alleged that the BNP and the Awami League both had used Jamaat for their own benefits. Selim said the meeting was fruitful and they discussed in a congenial atmosphere.
The two parties, working to mobilise an alternative platform of left parties beyond the AL and the BNP, met the prime minister on Tuesday and urged her to hold the next general elections under a non-party caretaker government.
Asked about BNP’s response on Jamaat issue, Selim told the Dhaka Tribune that the BNP leaders claimed they had no ideological tie with Jamaat. “[BNP says] it is temporary and merely a pre-electoral knot with Jamaat,” he said.
He also urged the two leading parties to compromise. “The election should be inclusive. Unilateral elections will deepen the crisis while another one-eleven-like situation will make it worse. So for the betterment of the country and its democracy, all should come forward leaving protocol and ego problem behind.”
Responding to a query whether his party would participate in the polls, if BNP quits, Selim said: “We want inclusive elections.”
Fakhrul in his brief speech said the CPB and the BSD delegation had expressed concern over the present political situation of the country. The meeting was attended by BNP Standing Committee members including Abdul Moyeen Khan, and CPB’s Manzurul Ahsan Khan, Abu Jafar Ahmed, Haider Akbar Khan Rono and BSD leaders Khalequzzaman and Bazlur Rashid Feroz.