The BNP yesterday tagged the release of party chairperson Khaleda Zia as the number one condition for their participation in the next general election. “Our demand is clear—our leader has to be released to hold the elections. It is our first condition. There will be no election keeping deshnetri (leader of the country) in prison. Countrymen will not allow it,” said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir while speaking at a mammoth rally in front of the party's central office at Naya Paltan in the city. He also said the government has to resign, Parliament should be dissolved, the Election Commission (EC) should be reconstituted and the Army has to be deployed to hold the next general election.

Echoing the party secretary general, senior BNP leaders also put the release of former premier as the primary condition for the national polls.

The release of Khaleda, democracy and next general election are tied with the same string. Khaleda has to be released to hold the elections. No election will be allowed in Bangladesh until she (Khaleda) is released, the leaders asserted.

The BNP, which had boycotted the January 5, 2014 general election, organised the open-door rally after about two years, demanding the release and better treatment of its chairperson, who has been serving a five-year jail term in a graft case since February 8 this year.

Chanting slogans demanding the release of Khaleda, thousands of party activists took part in the rally that began at 3:00pm and turned into a massive gathering.

The BNP was given verbal permission for the rally with a string of conditions, including completion of the rally by 5:00pm, after more than two years.

Fakhrul, who presided over the rally, greeted the recently formed eight-party left-leaning alliance, saying they placed issues that concerned the people. “We do hope that other political parties will also work to get the people united to create greater national unity to get relief from the misrule of the government,” he said.

He thanked all party leaders and activists for showing unity and called upon them to continue the trend with their presence in future.

“Our victory has to be achieved only through movement, movement and movement,” he said.

The BNP leader also said no one is safe in the country and they want to bring about a change in the situation. “We want to get back our rights—the right to vote, the right to hold rallies and meetings— and freedom of

expression. We want a congenial atmosphere so that journalists can write without fear,” he added.

Fakhrul said the ruling party does not want to hold an inclusive election as it knows that it will not even get 20 seats if there is a participatory election.

Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government wants to hold another farcical election and come to power again by keeping Khaleda outside the election process and controlling the administration and judiciary. He warned that there would not be any election in the country without their chairperson.

BNP leaders Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Mirza Abbas, Dr Abdul MOin Khan, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, Amanullah Aman, Abul KHair Bhuiyan, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, among others, spoke at the rally.

The rally started in front of the BNP’s Naya Paltan central office in the capital.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) gave permission to the BNP to hold the rally on 23 conditions, BNP senior joint secretary general, Rizvi Ahmed, said at the programme. The BNP got the go-ahead when Abul Khair Bhuiyan, adviser to Khaleda Zia, met the DMP commissioner at his office on Thursday.

On July 15, Fakhrul had announced that his party would stage demonstrations across the country, including in Dhaka, demanding release of the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, from jail and her better treatment.