The ruling Awami League publicity and publication affairs secretary, Dr Hasan Mahmud, said yesterday (Saturday) that there is a link between the terrorist strike in Paris and recent attacks in Bangladesh.  “The nature of the attacks is the same. But in Bangladesh, the main Opposition BNP-Jamaat was behind all the recent terrorist strikes, whereas no political party is involved in the Paris attacks,” he said. Dr Hasan, also former forest and environment minister, was addressing a meeting organised by the Bangladesh Awami Muktijoddha Projanma League (BAMPL) at the National Press Club in the city.  In response to a comment by BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon, Hasan said BNP leaders should first teach Khaleda Zia political etiquette, instead of criticising statements of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
 “Teach your chairperson how to talk about a Prime Minister. Is it good manners to refer to the Prime Minister as ‘Hasina-Hasina’?”  Alleging that many leaders of the BNP-led 20-party alliance do not believe in free-thinking, he said BNP leaders want to turn the country into a Taliban state.
 “Khaleda says there is no existence of extremism in her party, but she herself is patronising the extremist group in Bangladesh,” he said.  He also called upon party leaders and workers to save the country from the evil politics of Khaleda Zia, in  an attempt to take the country forward.  
Bachchu Sikder, president of the BAMPL, Munsi Ebadul Islam, secretary of the organisation, and others were present.  At another programme in Satkhira, shipping minister Shajahan Khan said BNP chief Khaleda Zia was engaged in hatching a conspiracy in London to make the country a failed state. The BNP has become isolated from the people by carrying out the three-month-long violent movement. It is not possible to gain anything from the AL-led government by launching terrorist attacks on unarmed people, he added.
 He also said there can be no compromise with the BNP-Jamaat, but the door of the AL is open for all who believe in the spirit of the Liberation War.