Staff Reporter :”The democracy is now in exile, which has been done by the ruling party. The party in power is administering the country with politics of vengeance,” said BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in a message on Sunday on the occasion of the ‘Martyred Intellectual Day’. Calling the current government unfriendly, the BNP chief alleged that it is gradually weakening the country’s security and making sovereignty subservient, shattering people’s democratic rights in inhuman style. “The Awami League had factually established one-party rule by destroying the country’s hard-earned democracy after independence of Bangladesh. The current Awami League unmasked its previous face. The democracy is at stake. Democracy has been in fact exiled,” she said.Khaleda Zia accused the ruling party of creating hindrance in the journey of national development through spreading disagreements and differences. She called upon all, including her party men, to be united from their respective positions to work together for the sake of the country’s progress and prosperity. “We have to be united for democratic advancement and turning the country into a powerful one,” she continued.Khaleda Zia also expressed her sympathy for the family members of those intellectuals martyred on December 14 in 1971. She said, “December 14 is a tragic day. Pakistan Army and their collaborators cruelly killed eminent intellectuals prior to the victory to cripple Bangladesh intellectually.”Meanwhile, BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in another statement also expressed sympathy for the martyred intellectuals and prayed for the salvation of the departed souls.
