BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said HT Imam’s explanation regarding his recent statements towards Chhatra League and on January 5 elections was not acceptable.
HT Imam at a press conference yesterday claimed that the media had exaggerated his speech which he gave on November 12. He said: “Media has exaggerated my speech and misrepresented it before the people, letting BNP and Jamaat take advantage of it.”
On this, Fakhrul said: “After remaining silent for a few days, today [yesterday] he claims that his statement was distorted by the media. However, he should know that in today’s information and technology era, all news spread quickly through YouTube and everything is recorded. So it is not an easy task to make a fool of people blaming the media.”
Fakhrul made the comments while addressing a discussion organised by Mohila Dal to mark the National Revolution and Solidarity Day at Engineers Institute in the capital.
He said HT Imam’s comments on January 5 election were secrets that just came out. He referred to it as “the cat out of the bag.”
Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s statement that those who criticised the January 5 election were fools, the BNP spokesperson pointed out: “The election did not receive any acceptance across the world. The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union also said there was no election held on January 5. They also stressed the need of holding an election immediately after a dialogue with all political parties.”
As a reply to the PM’s comments, Fakhrul asked a question saying “Are USA, UK and the people of the country fools?” Commenting that the prime minister has lost her grounds, he warned of dreadful consequences if the government does not listen to the voices of the country’s people.
The BNP leader also said: “The government has to hold an election today or tomorrow, so please do not put the party [Awami League] into any more trouble.”