BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir Thursday said the party was against banning any political party, a day after the High Court declared the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami illegal.
However, BNP did not give its official reaction in this regard and remained silent just as it had during the war crimes verdicts against the leaders of Jamaat, a key ally of the main opposition party.
"I will not say anything about the verdict. It is a sub-judice matter," Mirza Fakhrul, at a demonstration organised by Dhaka City unit BNP protesting the killing of its leader Jasim Uddin, said at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
He also alleged that the government had started to ban political parties for destroying the opposition parties to hold a one party election.
"We want to say clearly, BNP does not support banning of any political party. If they [AL] were democratic, they would counter politics politically," the BNP leader said.
The Awami League introduced Baksal in the country in 1975 to remain in power and tried to restore one party rule in a different way, Fakhrul alleged.
Following the HC verdict on Thursday, counsels of the Election Commission and Jamaat said the party would not be able to participate in parliamentary polls if the judgment was upheld by the Appellate Division, but it would have the right to conduct political activities as the verdict concentrated only on the party's registration.
Alleging that the government was using the Election Commission, Mirza Fakhrul said: "Election Commission has curtailed its power following the direction of the government. People will destroy all kinds of conspiracy."
He reiterated that the election would not be held without a non-partisan interim government and deployment of army during the election.
Fakhrul also asked the government to find the killers of Jasimuddin, and warned that tough movement would be waged and the government would be compelled to resign if the demand was not met.
Presiding over the demonstration, Dhaka city unit BNP Vice Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka, meanwhile, urged the government to hold dialogues to resolve the political deadlock.
"Still you have time to resolve the political standoff otherwise you [PM] and your government will have to take the responsibility for any untoward incidents," he said.
He also warned that people of the country were ready under the leadership of Khaleda Zia to oust the government from the office.
