UNB, Dhaka :
Branding the current regime illegal again, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday night alleged that the ruling party is out to divide the nation through carrying out propaganda in a bid to hang onto power by force.
“Now the country has no legitimate regime. The current government is illegal and unconstitutional. It’s resorting to various plots and propaganda to cling to power by force and dividing the nation and making people confused,” she said.
Khaleda made the remarks while addressing a function at her Gulshan office marking the joining of a group of ex-national
team footballers and sports organisers to BNP. A group of 15 players and organisers, led by former national captain Aminul Haq, formally joined BNP by presenting Khaleda a bouquet.
Ex-national football team players Imtiaz Ahmed Nakib, Masud Rana, Mizanur Rahman Don, Enamul Haq, Mejbah Uddin, Ziaur Rahman, Arup Kumar, sports organisers Kazi Shamim Tareque, Salahuddin Haider Khokan, Ziaur Rahman Tapu, among others, joined the party.
Warmly welcoming and congratulating the players and organisers, Khaleda said the young generation will lead the nation in the days to come and take the country forward with their new ideas.
Justifying her party’s decision to boycott the 10th parliamentary polls, the BNP chief said the ruling party has got isolated from people as it boarded a wrong train on January 5. “We didn’t miss the train. It’s Awami League that boarded a wrong train and followed a wrong path.”
The former prime minister also claimed that people also did not take part in the election in response to the BNP’s call.
Reiterating the demand for holding a fresh national election under a non-party neutral administration, Khaleda said the January 5 voter-less polls have proved that no fair election is possible under the Awami League-led government.
“I want to tell the government why are you afraid of holding the election under a neutral administration when you think you are so popular. Why are you killing so many innocent people?” Khaleda questioned.
Voicing her disappointment over the current state of the country, the BNP chief said the government has indulged in widespread corruption, and it has politicised the country’s every institution. “But people want a change of government to get over the situation.”
About the upazila polls, Khaleda said the ruling party could not frustrate the victory of the BNP-supported candidates even after capturing polling stations, rigging vote and stanching ballot papers.
She urged the ruling party to try to understand the pulse of people from the upazila polls’ results. “Don’t plunge yourselves into such a depth from where you’ll require to be pulled off with a crane.”
Crticising the government for what she its repressive acts like killing, force disappearance and filing of ‘false’ cases against opposition men, Khaleda said the country’s image has badly been dented in the international arena due to the Awami League regime’s heinous acts.
She claimed that the law enforcers have killed around 304 opposition leaders and activists in the last three months. “Fifty-six others were also made disappeared during the period.”
The former prime minister was also critical of the government for what she said its silence over stopping the boarder killing.
She alleged that the government is doing nothing for the development of sports. “They’re indulging in corruption and plundering public money. We had given a special importance to soccer alongside the cricket during our rule. But they’re not maintaining it now.” BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, chairperson’s advisers Osman Farroque and Fazlur Rahman Potal were, among others, present.
