Ehsanul Haque Jasim :BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is rigid on her stance to continue the ongoing non-stop blockade. The government is also taking more hard-line position to control the anti-government movement. In this backdrop, speculation is in the air that Khaleda Zia may be arrested anytime as part of the government’s hard-line position. Some ministers, including Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, have already made statement in this regard. Sources said that the government would also try to take the BNP chief in CMH or any other hospital against her will like the party joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. It will also try to arrest the other influential leaders of the BNP and its alliance partners. Two senior leaders– BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the party vice chairman Shamser Mobin Showdhury– have already been arrested after beginning of the ongoing blockade programme. BNP insiders said that Khaleda Zia has realised the situation that she may face arrest anytime. She is now confined in her Gulshan office since January 3. In this situation, the BNP chief has assigned some senior leaders of her party to come forward and lead the ongoing movement in case of her arrest. A BNP leader, seeking anonymity, said, “If Khaleda Zia is arrested, alternative leadership is ready to come forward. The on-going movement won’t be stopped until the demand is met.”When asked, BNP standing committee member Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah on Friday told The New Nation that the government has no right to arrest the BNP chief in an attempt to thwart the on-going movement. The government should not commit such great mistake. He, however, said that Khaleda Zia began the on-going non-stop blockade relying on the grassroots level leaders and workers as well as the common people of the country. So, the countrymen will make the movement successful in case of Khaleda Zia’s absence, he added. A reliable source said that Khaleda Zia has asked BNP standing committee member Tariqul Islam to come to Dhaka from Jessore for possible taking over leadership in case of her absence. According to her direction, Tariqul Islam has already reached Dhaka city. Khaleda Zia also gave the same direction to some other leaders, including her adviser Shamsuzzaman Dudu and standing committee member ASM Hannan Shah. Meanwhile, most of the BNP senior leaders and the leaders of the alliance partners have gone into hiding to avert arrest. When tried, cell phones of a number of the leaders found on off mode. Sources said that it might be part of another strategy of the 20-party alliance for a successful movement. Some third-tier leaders were found over cell phone and they said that Khaleda Zia is committed to continue the anti-government movement at any cost. “She is mentally ready to face any consequence. If she is arrested, the ongoing movement will continue. Some other leaders will come forward in her absence,” said Shammi Akter, a former BNP woman MP who visited Khaleda Zia in her Gulshan office after her confinement. She, however, did not mention any specific name. M Golam Mustafa Bhuiyan, secretary general of Bangladesh NAP, told The New Nation that most of the senior leaders of the 20-party alliance went into hiding as part of the strategy. “If all the senior leaders are arrested, who will lead the movement? From this view, Khaleda Zia also asked the senior leaders of the alliance partners to avert arrest for the sake of an eventful movement,” he said.
