A group of BNP leaders who were part of a reformist faction in the party during the military-backed regime of 2007-08 have been officially welcomed back into the party after almost a decade of exile.
Thursday, 12 BNP leaders met party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at the BNP chairperson’s office in Gulshan and offered their allegiance with a symbolic gift of flowers.
A press release from the BNP office said the returning leaders were former minister Alamgir Kabir, former whip Abu Yusuf Md Khalilur Rahman, Abu Hena, Sarder Sakhawat Hossain Bakul, Zahiruddin Swapan, GM Siraj, Najir Hossain, Dr Ziaul Haque, Ataur Rahman Angur, Israt Jahan Elen Bhutto, Shafiqul Islam Talukdar, and Shahidul Alam Talukdar.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with Fakhrul, Sakhawat Hossain Bakul said: “We were in the party and we will be in the party. We have been instructed to work more pro-actively.
“Acting chairman Tarique Rahman has issued some instructions which we have been informed of. We will work accordingly.”
Shahidul Islam Talukdar said: “We were inactive, and now the party has ordered us to become active again. The chairperson is in jail, the acting chairman is abroad, and elections are ahead.”
“We will free them through movement. We are also preparing for the national election,” he added.
Asked why they had been away from the party, Shahidul said: “Domestic issues are nothing new. But we are working together now.”
He added that their goal was to keep the party alive, rather than getting nominations or getting elected.
The embattled BNP is bringing back leaders who are still popular with voters, in order to bolster the party’s decimated ranks and improve their fighting chance in the coming election.
The reconciliation process began in February 2017 when BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia met with former lawmakers Sarder Sakhawat Hossain Bakul and Zahiruddin Swapan.
