Staff Reporter:
BNP’s Joint Secretary General Emran Saleh Prince on Friday urged the government to execute reform tasks needed for holding fair national elections and hold the elections quickly as conspiracies to unsettle the country can be “smelt.”
Speaking at a mass rally, he urged the government to avoid undertaking unnecessary tasks that would delay the return of democratic rule over country and harm the national unity formed against fascist rule during July-August.
People, bereft of the rights to vote and enjoy democratic rule, will not have patience for long if a logical time for holding elections passes, Prince warned.
Gazipur’s migrant workers, coming from Haluaghat and Dhobaura upazilas of Mymensingh, were invited to the rally held at Zanzalia Eidgah in Salna, Gazipur.
Prince also warned against removing President Mohammed Shahabuddin from his post. Even if there could be numerous allegations of misconduct against the president, attempts to remove him would only lead to a constitutional crisis, the BNP leader said.
Vested groups would exploit the potential constitutional crisis and thwart the mass people’s democratic aspirations, he said in a note of caution.
He claimed that Sheikh Hasina and her party Awami League are both enemies of the people and must not be forgiven. Sheikh Hasina must be extradited from her comfortable abode in India and tried in Bangladesh, while Awami League members must also be held accountable.
“Despite committing the July-August massacre, the party has no remorse and is rather pinning the blame on student-led protesters,” he said highlighting the extent of Awami League’s unscrupulousness.
Prince thanked student protest leader Sarjis Alam for clarifying that many “fake student protest organisers” have emerged since Awami League government’s ouster on 5 August to the make most of the fame tied to this rank.
Prince welcomed Sarjis’ call for picking out the “fakes.”
The BNP leader compared the crisis with the members of “Sixteen Division” who banded together after the 1971 Liberation War to identify themselves as war veterans, despite playing no significant role in the glorious struggle.
Prince, however, expressed frustration at the lack of measures against the exploiters of July-August uprising, drawing contrast with BNP Acting Chairman Tareque Rahman’s punitive steps adopted against people committing illegal acts in the name of BNP.
BNP’s Gazipur city unit President Shawkat Hossain, Vice President Joinal Abedin Talukder, Mymensingh District’s south unit Joint Convener Shukkur Mahmud Boby, Mymensingh District’s north unit members Anisur Rahman Manik, Moazzem Hossain Khan Liton, and others were present at the event.
