BNP has said it will not allow any war criminal of 1971 to contest the 11th general election with the “sheaf of paddy,” the party's electoral symbol.
"I can assure you no war criminal will be allowed to use our "sheaf of paddy," said BNP Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan on Thursday.
Nazrul came up with the remarks at a press briefing at BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters in Dhaka, reports UNB.
As his attention was drawn that some Jamaat-e-Islami leaders submitted their nomination forms to contest the polls with BNP symbol, he replied: "Where is the problem in using our symbol by those who are not war criminals?"
Nazrul, also the chief of BNP's election steering committee, claimed that there are some freedom fighters even inside Jamaat.
According to sources, 24 of Jamaat leaders have submitted nomination papers to the returning officers in different districts to contest the polls with BNP's electoral symbol.
Some Jamaat leaders also filed their nominations to contest the election from different seats also as independent candidates.
Replying to a query of how many seats they are sharing with Jamaat, he diplomatically said they did not share any seat with Jamaat as the party nominated its candidates to contest the election with their symbol sheaf of paddy.
BNP is a top ally of Jamaat and have a strong political tie with the party since the 2001 general election.
However, after the Awami League government came to power in 2008, most of the Jamaat top leaders were convicted and sent to jail or executed for the war crimes they committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
Jamaat, which had opposed Bangladesh's independence in 1971, also lost its registration as a political party last month.
