Staff Reporter :The jailed leaders and activists of BNP and its allies have occupied half of the total space of country’s prisons, as a total of 16,520 opposition men are now in the country’s 68 jails, those have the capacity of holding around 34,167 inmates. BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and many other senior leaders are among the prisoners. Revealing the data, the leaders of BNP at a discussion meeting in the city on Wednesday also said BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia along with three lakh leaders, workers and supporters of her party are now facing about 15,000 cases. “The law enforcers detained 16,520 people due to their active voice against the misrule of the government, while the government filed the cases against Khaleda Zia, Mirza Fakhrul and about 2,88,000 other people to thwart the anti-government movement,” BNP standing committee member Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman said at the discussion. Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddhya Dal, a front body of BNP, arranged the discussion at the National Press Club demanding withdrawal of cases against Khaleda Zia and others, and immediate release of Mirza Fakhrul and all other political prisoners.Chairman of Bangladesh Kalyan Party Maj Gen (Retd) Syed Mohammad Ibrahim Birpratik, founder of Gonosasthyo Kendro Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, former freedom fighters and former MPs Fazlur Rahman and Shah Mohammad Abu Jafar also spoke in the programme, among others with president of the Muktijoddhya Dal Ishtiaq Aziz Ulfat in the chair.The Prisons Directorate under the Ministry of Home Affairs sources said, the number of prisoners is double than the capacity, as about 70,000 people, including the prisoners of BNP and its allies, are now in the 68 jails.Pointing the issue, the speakers alleged that the opposition men are passing inhuman time in the jails. Mentioning the names of Mirza Fakhrul, BNP standing committee members Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Chairperson’s adviser Shamsuzzamn Dudu, the party vice chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury and joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the speakers said that almost all the arrested senior leaders are falling ill because of lack of treatment and unhealthy condition of the jails. Mahbubur Rahman said, the country is deprived of expected achievement even after 44 years of the independence, as the output of the independence was looted. “We have to stand for the development of the country upholding the sprit of the Liberation War,” he said. He recalled the contribution of Ziaur Rahman in the Liberation War and the development of the country. Lt General (Retd) Mahbub said that the countrymen are annoyed with the government due to its misrule and misdeeds. The people want a tougher and effective movement against the government. BNP will launch a tougher movement after reorganising the party. In that time, the government will be forced to accept the demand of the mid-term election with participation of all parties, he said. He called upon the leaders and workers of the Muktijoddya Dal and others to come forward when the movement will be launched. The BNP leader welcomed the upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hoped that his visit will bring good results for both the countries. He also hoped that the issues of water sharing and border killing will also come in the agenda during the visit and these issues will be solved. “India is constructing Tipaimukh Dam and some other dams and barrages in the upstream of the trans-boundary rivers. The constructions of the dams and barrages have to be stopped,” he said. Mahbubur Rahman came down heavily on the government for its silent role about human trafficking. He alleged that the government is not playing vital role to stop the inhumanity. The human trafficking and dead of the people in the sea are nothing but serious human disaster. The country has to come out of the disaster, he said. He also said that the international conscious has to come forward to resolve the disaster. The United Nations should adopt a resolution in this regard.
