BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has described the court injunction on the holding of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal council as unprecedented, accusing the government of controlling politics through the judiciary.
"The current government has introduced a new political culture of regulating politics through the court. This is a very dangerous culture," he said.
Fakhrul made the comments after a meeting with BNP standing committee and pro-BNP lawyers at the party chairperson's office in Gulshan, Dhaka on Friday.
He said it is regrettable that the government has been using the court to make political gains for the last 10 years. "They annulled the caretaker government by using the court, putting the nation and country into uncertainty."
The government also enacted various "black laws" through the judiciary, and took away the people's democratic rights, Fakhrul said.
"You witnessed during the last general election that the candidatures of many people, city corporation mayors and upazila chairmen were cancelled. The way they [the Awami League] are making the court questionable and politicizing the judiciary will not bring anything good for the country," he observed.
Fakhrul said Chhatra Dal wanted to elect its future leadership through a council, as per the democratic process, but the BNP’s student front has been obstructed. "You are stopping the activities of a political party, which is unprecedented."
He claimed necessary preparations for holding the council, after the dissolving of its previous committee, were taken lawfully.
"Our acting chairman took the decision regarding Chhatra Dal's council and the dissolution of its committee. As per our party constitution, the acting chairman has the authority to take such a decision and it is legal. What steps we have so far taken about Chhatra Dal are lawful," Fakhrul said.
He added that Chhatra Dal will now take the next step regarding its council after reviewing the court order. "BNP has no involvement in it."
The BNP leader, however, said the party would give a reply to the show-cause notice issued by the court. "We will place our reply before the court in due time. But Chhatra Dal will take the decision about what they need to do now."
He also said the court order is mysterious, as it issued the injunction silently on Thursday evening. "It can be understood that there is direct interference of the government in the matter."
Fakhrul also alleged that the government does not want to keep minimum democratic space in the country, as it was not elected by the people's votes.
BNP Standing Committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, and senior pro-BNP lawyers, including Zainul Abedin, AJ Mohammad Ali, Mahbubuddin Khokon, Masud Ahmed Talukder and Kaiser Kamal were present at the meeting. among others.
On Thursday, a Dhaka court issued an ad interim injunction on holding the council of Chhatra Dal, which was scheduled to be held on Saturday.
The court passed the order as the student wing's former assistant religious affairs secretary Md Aman Ullah Aman had filed a case seeking a permanent injunction on the holding the council.
