BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday reiterated her resolve to launch a fresh movement to topple the government from power.
She said the Awami League government had clung to power through killings and abduction with the help of the law enforcement agencies.
“The country’s situation is very bad. The fascist government has destroyed the country. It has destroyed the financial institutions. Killing and abduction are on the rise and the country is in deep crisis,” she said attending an iftar party hosted by its key ally Jamaat-e-Islam at a city hotel. The former premier called upon all political parties to unite to oust the government from office.
“The BNP-led 20-party alliance is united and 95% people are with us. We will launch fresh programmes and oust the government after Eid. The government has already lost its ground but it has not understood that it is not possible to stay in office by using police and RAB,” she said.
A good number of freedom fighters allied to the BNP joined the event. Liberal Democratic Party chief Col (retd) Oli Ahmed, who was a former BNP leader, sat with the Jamaat leaders on the same platform.
A Buddhist leader and a Hindu leader also joined the Jamaat’s iftar party. According to the Jamaat, non-muslims cannot become members of the organisation.
The programme turned into a gathering of Jamaat leaders. Jamaat’s activities have remained limited to just issuing press releases and iftar parties since the Awami League government assumed power in 2009. Because of a huge number of Jamaat leaders and activists, there was a scarcity of iftar.
The International Crimes Tribunal in its several verdicts observed that the party is a criminal organisation and linked to crimes against humanity during the liberation war. Many of its senior leaders have already been awarded the death penalty for their roles in 1971 and one of them has already walked the gallows.
Jamaat leader Mojibur Rahman chaired the programme. He said the detained Jamaat leaders who were now facing charges of crimes against humanity would have taken their seats on the stage "but are now behind bars as victims of the government’s vengeance.”
“The government has detained our beloved leaders illegally and hanged martyr Quader Molla ignoring requests of the UN secretary general and other organisations. The government is hatching conspiracy to kill Jamaat leaders in the name of this farcical trial,” he said.
