The main opposition BNP has planned not to extend direct support to its key ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, but will wage movements simultaneously to put pressure on the government in realising the demand for a non-partisan interim government to oversee the next general election.
Party insiders said Jamaat's acting ameer Mokbul Ahmed called up BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday, and requested him to issue a statement on the High Court order that cancelled the party's registration with the Election Commission on August 1.
Following the request, the BNP made a strategic statement wherwe Fakhrul said: "The High Court has declared Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's registration with the Election Commission illegal. Jamaat has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. As the issue is sub-judice, the BNP has no statement on the issue."
Jamaat has announced a non-stop countrywide shutdown for August 12-13 protesting the High Court's verdict.
Upon repeated requests by Jamaat leaders, BNP leaders told them that they would keep in mind Jamaat's registration cancellation and the war crimes trial while observing their programmes on the demand of election under a non-partisan interim government, said party insiders. The BNP leaders also requested the Jamaat leaders to observe their programmes independently.
The BNP has also been silent about the recent verdicts by the International Crimes Tribunal, which convicted former Jamaat ameer Ghulam Azam and its Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed.
A senior BNP leader said the party would announce programmes keeping Jamaat in mind, and that the simultaneous movement would be fruitful for them.Â
"Jamaat's movement on the streets will intensify our ongoing movement and the government will be compelled to realise the demand of holding the next elections under a non-partisan interim government," he told the Dhaka Tribune seeking anonymity. Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of the party, said they had made their position clear on the Jamaat issue and only time will tell about the next step."
"The decision of supporting the hartal will be decided after the party chairpersons' return to Dhaka," he told the Dhaka Tribune. Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, Jamaat's central working committee member, said, "Earlier, BNP had extended its support during hartals but on several occasions, they have remained silent. We do not know whether they will support us this time or not."
Asked whether Jamaat sought any support from the BNP, Taher said, "We did not seek any help from BNP formally. Some leaders might have sought their support informally."
Regarding their next course of action, the Jamaat leader said: "We are in the BNP-led 18-party alliance. So we will observe programmes under the banner of the alliance on common and national issues. And, at the same time Jamaat as a political party will observe its own programmes."
