Oikya Front briefs foreign diplomats on its demands and visions
The newly formed Jatiya Oikya Front yesterday briefed foreign diplomats in Dhaka about its seven-point charter of demands and 11-point visions to hold the next general election in a free and fair way. Leaders of the Oikya Front also briefed them on the latest political developments and explained the circumstance behind the formation of the opposition alliance, according to sources who attended the meeting.
Briefing the diplomats at Hotel Lakeshore in Gulshan, Dr Kamal Hossain, convenor of Jatiya Oikya Prokriya, a major ally of the Jatiya Oikya Front, answered various questions of diplomats on the creation of a congenial atmosphere for the next general election, pre-conditions for a participatory election, release of political leaders, including BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, and their participation in the next poll.
The Oikya Front also handed over to the diplomats of different countries papers containing its seven-point demands and 11-point vision documents, sources said. After emerging from the meeting, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president ASM Abdur Rab said that Dr Kamal Hossain briefed the diplomats on the holding of the next general election in a free, fair and neutral manner.
We have had a closed-door briefing with ambassadors, high commissioners and representatives of different countries based in Dhaka. Dr Kamal Hossain of Jatiya Oikya Front briefed them about our seven-point demands and 11-point visions. He (Kamal) also answered their questions, he added. He described the meeting as successful. BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, among others, was also present at the meeting. He said they had exchanged views with the diplomats, but declined to elaborate.
At the beginning of the one-and-half-hour meeting that began at 3:30pm, the BNP leader welcomed the foreign diplomats and introduced them to Oikya Front leaders. Diplomats from about 30 countries including the USA, the UK, China, European Union, Japan, Germany, France, Australia, Turkey, Pakistan, Switzerland and Norway were present.
Oikya Front leaders Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Jamirudidn Sircar, Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah, Mirza Abbas, Tania Rab, Abdul Malek Ratan, Mostafa Mohsin Montu, Subrata Chowdhury, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, SM Akbar, Shahidullah Kaiser, Abdullah Al Noman and Maj (Retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury and Barrister Mainul Hosein were present at the meeting. Meanwhile, the Jatiya Oikya Front is yet to get police permission to hold its planned public meeting in Sylhet on October 23.
Ali Ahmed, general secretary of the Sylhet district BNP, yesterday confirmed that they did not get the police permission to hold the public meeting on October 23 at the Registrary Ground in the city. On October 17, we sought police permission from the Sylhet police commissioner to hold our public meeting at Registrary Ground on October 23. But the law enforcers yesterday requested us not to hold the meeting at that venue, he said. The BNP leader said they are in touch with Oikya Front leaders to determine the next course of action. He expressed hope that the police would give them permission to hold the meeting. In another development, a new organisation, Movement for Justice led by former student leader Sanaul Haque Niru, was formed yesterday with a plan to join the Jatiya Oikya Front. Niru, who is the chief coordinator of the organisation, announced this at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday.
