Staff Reporter:
Terming the defeated Awami League as mafia, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has said that the party met its utter fall not only due to misdeeds and misrule but also for not holding free and fair elections in the country.
“It is an extreme truth that the Awami League mafia government met a complete downfall for not holding free and fair elections in the country,” Tarique reminds the interim government while virtually addressing an iftar party held in Dhaka on Wednesday from London.
BNP hosted the iftar party at the Ladies Club on the capital’s Eskaton Road in honour of leaders of the country’s political parties.
Claiming that there is no chance to consider an election solely as a matter of whether or not a single political party comes to power, he urged the incumbent government to arrange the national election as early as possible to prevent the recurrence of militancy in the country.
Bangladesh could be a fertile land for the emergence of religious extremism if the incumbent government fails to deal with the extremists and the defeated fascist forces with a strong hand, he said.
“By any chance, if religious extremism raises its ugly head again it will dig the grave for our democracy,” Tarique expressed his concern over the country’s overall situation.
Bangladesh could face a serious image crisis in the democratic world if it happens, said the BNP high up.
UNB adds: Tarique said his party, along with other democratic forces, will prioritise maintaining the country’s secular character and strengthening democracy as their future political agenda.
“To maintain the country’s secular character, the programme to strengthen Bangladesh’s democratic system will be the future political settlement of the democratic forces by bringing the fleeing mafia clique, responsible for massacres, to trial at any cost, alongside resisting the evil forces of extremism and religious fundamentalism,” he said.
The BNP leader said that there are plots underway to harm the national unity forged during the mass uprising on the streets, soaked with the blood of several thousand martyrs.
He called upon all leaders and activists at every level of democratic political parties to stay united and uphold national unity. “If we, the pro-independence and democratic forces, remain united, no plot will succeed.”
Tarique also urged the government to provide the public with a clear understanding of its action plan in order to maintain confidence among people.
“If the outline of the interim government’s activities or action plan were made clearer and more specific to the people, all doubts and hesitations in their minds would be removed,” he said.
The BNP leader said it is true that the Awami mafia government was not overthrown merely to arrange a national election.
“But it is even truer that the mafia regime collapsed brutally due to the failure to hold a fair election. So, there is no room to consider any election simply as a matter of whether a political party can come to power or not.”
