As the BNP rank-and-file have long been irritated at its empty threats of launching a vigorous movement it is now telling them to wait until March-April.
“Everybody – from shopkeepers to rickshaw pullers – is saying the government cannot stay in the office after March or April,” Goyeshwar Chnadra Roy, standing committee member of the party, told the Dhaka Tribune.
“If people do not want to see them in office then how will they cling to office?”
When asked about whether the party has devised any strategy to materialise this goal, Roy said: “Certainly we have some strategies but we will not disclose them.”
“When it happens you will all know. It is tough to give any specific date of waging movement,” he said.
Pro-BNP intellectual and former Dhaka University vice-chancellor Emajuddin Ahmed also echoed the notion of Goyeshwar.
“I hope that Tarique Rahman will deliver the same speech in Dhaka University in the next three months as he did in Queens University of London.
“If political science has any utility, if my thinking is perfect then country’s situation will not remain the same in March-April. By the time people’s involvement with the movement will mount. I am waiting for Tarique’s new days,” Emajuddin told a discussion in Dhaka on Tuesday to mark the 50th birth anniversary of Tarique, who is senior vice-chairman of BNP.
When asked about how he could be sure of the change in the political ambience in March-April Emajuddin averted the question several times.
Meanwhile, frustration still prevails in the party men as they in reality do not know anything about what is going to happen in March-April.
“We have never been told about any strategy for the imminent movement,” said a central leader.
It is particularly important for the leaders and activists at the mid and grassroots levels to know about when and how the campaign would be carried out.
“Because it is them who would spearhead the movement on streets if the BNP has to go anywhere near toppling the government,” he said.
By the time BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has held several political rallies in recent times in various parts of the country but nowhere, contrary to the grassroots’ expectation, she announced any definite time-frame for the movement.
Everywhere she went, she sounded defensive, asking her party men to be strong and “resist” the government’s repression.
After boycotting the January national election, Khaleda Zia said her party would launch a movement after reorganising itself but 10 months later the expected reshuffle did not take place.
Of the nine associated wings, two have seen factional clashes over the announcement of new committees, and the committees of six others have expired a year or more ago.
Nobody could say when the expired committees would be formed.
Moreover, when the party formed new committees of Sramik Dal and Chhatra Dal, the party faced serious resistance from the deprived and aggrieved leaders.
The party office came under attack and even the mural of party founder Ziaur Rahman was damaged and dishonoured.
Talking to several grassroots leaders from various districts, the Dhaka Tribune came to know that fear of arrest is one major matter of concern for the BNP leaders because thousands of their party-mates are wanted in a number of political cases, most of which were filed during the pre-election violence.
Many grassroots leaders have alleged that despite pledges, the organisation has not extended any legal support for those accused in political cases.
So, at this point, with such fears in mind, resisting the government’s repression does not appear to be a viable option, let alone fighting back and building up the “tough movement”, said one of the grassroots leaders.
Ruhul Quddus Talukdar Dulu said: “We want to start movement from tomorrow. But I cannot understand what the party is doing. We are ready to this any time. We are just waiting for the decision to come from the centre.”
Sahin Mridha, a Chhatra Dal leader of Mymensingh’s Valuka, said: “How will the leaders and activists take to the street as more or less all the leaders and activists are facing at least one case.”
“Even the leaders cannot stay in their houses. When the leaders and activists will see their central leaders come out on to the streets they will follow them.”
Even the senior leaders of the party including the members of the standing committee, the highest policymaking body of the BNP, do not know much about their tasks.
In a recent meeting, party Chief Khaleda Zia vented her frustration on virtually everyone of them for what she said was their inactivity.
She even asked her senior colleagues if they would stand beside her when she takes to the street.
After election, BNP Chairperson Khaleda repeatedly said the movement would be waged after reorganising the party and the process was started accordingly.
Khaleda started exchanging views with the district committee leaders in a view to reorganising the party but all on a sudden without any specific reason the process came to a halt.
The former premier then said the movement would get momentum after Eid-ul-Fitr but nothing happened. Then again she talked about a shake-up in the organisation first.
She embarked on an extensive tour of different districts to garner mass support in favour of the demand for an election under a non-partisan administration halting the reorganising process.
She has already held three meetings and schedueld to hold some more rallies but the venues and schedules are yet to be fixed.
In the meantime, suddenly she held meetings with her advisers, vice-chairmen and joint secretary generals and then standing committee members on November 10, 11 and 13 respectively to analyse the current political situation and to devise the next course of action.
But nothing concrete was announced after those meetings.
Finally the meeting with vice-chairmen and joint secretary generals suggested her that the party should not hold councils right now as it might fuel the intra-party feud.
They advised her to hold national executive committee meeting to rejuvenate the party.
