BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has warned of waging movement against the government if it does not take initiative for fresh Parliamentary polls under a non-party caretaker government. She, however, wants to go for fresh agitation for fresh polls after reorganising the party. She said that she would start the movement at an appropriate time.
The former Prime Minister said this while addressing the inaugural session of the council of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, a front body of the BNP, at the Institution of Engineers in the city on Saturday.
Khaleda Zia said, “BNP needs restructuring. The party does not depend on anyone’s advice. Just after reorganising the party, we will take to the streets for fresh polls under a non-party government.”
She emphatically said that the government would be forced to hold fresh election. “There is still time. So, a dialogue should be initiated without delay. You will be responsible for the consequences if you choose to delay the polls further,” she said.
BNP standing committee member and the Sramik Dal President Nazrul Islam Khan, party Vice-Chairman Abdullah-al-Noman, former Dhaka Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka and Sramik Dal General Secretary Jafrul Hasan also addressed the programme with the Dhaka city unit President Rihan Ali in the chair.
The government has adopted the policy of suppression of the opposition leaders and workers, Khaleda Zia said. Holding the government responsible for the ongoing incidents of killings, she said that the people had already lost their confidence in it, as every day dead bodies are recovered from under tunnels, in rivers and paddy fields.
The Awami League, she said, did not carry any development work in the country’s industrial and agricultural sectors during its last five years and the first three months in the present tenure. Several industries, including readymade garments, are being closed because the government has failed to encourage local and foreign investment, she added.
Alleging that the government had indulged in corruption and misdeeds, she said that the government had already destroyed the country’s industrial and educational sectors. Now it is planning to destroy the agricultural sector.
She criticised the government for increasing power tariff. She also criticised the ruling party leaders for their statements against BNP, Ziaur Rahman and his son Tarique Rahman in the Parliament.
