BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam   has said the party has no plan to sever its ties with Jamaat-e-Islami. “BNP has no plans to sever ties with its main ally in the 20-party alliance Jamaat,” Alamgir said in an exclusive interview with The Independent, adding that his party believes in upholding the unity of the 20-party alliance and that it wants to work by taking the partners into confidence. Alamgir demanded an overhaul of the Election Commission (EC), in consultation with all political parties, to restore the confidence of people in the electoral process. “We demand an overhaul of the EC. The new EC should be formed after consultation with all political parties,” he said. The present EC’s term will end in February next year. It faced severe flak during the just-concluded Union Parishad polls that claimed over 100 lives in violence. The BNP leader reiterated the call to the government to initiate talks to resolve the current political impasse, by holding a free and fair election.
“Enough is enough. There have been many losses. Good sense should prevail and the government should come forward for a dialogue with the opposition and solve the problem. The government should conduct an election by reaching a consensus,” he said.
Asked whether the BNP would take part in the polls if it was assured of fair polls under the rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he rejected the possibility outright. “The question of taking part in the general election, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in power, does not arise,” he said. He added that he doesn’t think Hasina would give the assurance of a fair election, as the Awami League knows that it would not be able to come to power in that case.
“They will never want fair polls. So, we don’t believe that elections can be fair if the Awami League is in power,” he said.
The former minister also reiterated his call to hold a national convention of all political parties to try to take a common stand against militancy by raising public awareness.
“After Eid, our priority will be to reorganise the party. We will complete it at the district, upazila (sub-district), city and front organisation level, where new committees have not yet been set up.”
He said the standing committee would meet after Eid and decide its next course of action, including the re-organisation of the party.
Alamgir, who got his post-graduate degree in economics from Dhaka University, termed the prevailing situation in the country as “suffocating” and “intolerable”, since “people have no freedom of expression” and “their fundamental rights of speech have been snatched”.
Regarding AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam’s comments on Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) chief Hasanul Haq Inu, he said it has exposed their (AL’s) political bankruptcy. “After Syed Ashraf’s comments, the JSD should have left the Cabinet or the Prime Minister should have removed Inu from the Cabinet,” he observed.
The BNP leader said newspapers reports showed that the government was in a real fix, as it was running the country with those who had created the grounds for killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“On the other hand, the JSD blamed the AL for creating grounds for killing Sheikh Mujib. So, the real story is out,” he said.
He explained that for so long, the AL had blamed some army officers for killing Sheikh Mujib. But JSD leader ASM Abdur Rab had pointed out that it was the AL that took over power soon after Mujib’s killing. “They came to power. They took the oath when the body was still there. Martial law was declared by the Awami League government—the Khandaker Mostaque government—and not by the BNP government, which did not even exist at that time,” he argued.
Alamgir termed the present Parliament an “unelected” one, with no real opposition. “The opposition sits there only for show. They cannot do anything for the people,” he said.
Asked whether BNP was facing any split in the party, Alamgir described it as the “imagination of the media”. “If I tell you the truth, you (journalists) will not be happy. It is the creation of the media, to some extent. It is a well-planned conspiracy against the party. The government is fuelling in it,” he said.
This kind of news is being created to spark confusion among party leaders and activists and to weaken the party. He pointed out that despite so much gossip, no leader has left the party fold.
The leader, however, admitted that the government was trying to spark a rift in the 20-party alliance and had managed to take some of the alliance leaders so far.
Regarding their future course of action, he said the party had already announced countrywide demonstrations on Saturday, protesting against mass arrests on the pretext of conducting anti-militant drives.
“We have had a meeting with the joint secretary-general and the organising secretary, and they have been assigned to evaluate the total scenario of the UP polls and the role of party leaders. They have also been asked to submit reports on their observation. They will also submit their report on the organisational situation at the district and upazila levels.”
Regarding the present priority of the BNP, he said the party was going ahead despite facing cases, jail, repression, killings, and enforced disappearances.
“We have already held our council meeting. And, we will take up the task of the reorganisation of the party, particularly after Eid-ul-Fitr.
“We are now concentrating on talking about issues. We will move ahead with issue-based programmes, taking people with us.” He said the BNP had participated in the UP polls only to get in touch with people.
“A democratic party finds it difficult to operate when there is a fascist government in power. Despite this, we are working and are hopeful that we will be able to unite the people,” he said.
Referring to the huge number of cases against opposition leaders and activists, he said there was no person in the opposition—right from the BNP chairperson to grassroots leaders—who had not been implicated in a case.
“The BNP chairperson has been implicated in false cases. I have been implicated in 86 cases, of which, charge-sheets for 36 have so far been submitted,” he said. He alleged that Nagorik Oikya leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna, journalist Shafik Rehman, Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman, former Press Club president Shawkat Mahmud, and Abdus Salam of Ekushe TV have been detained without any trial. “Some of them do not even have anything to do with BNP in reality,” he said. The BNP leader questioned the recent arrest of thousands of people on the pretext of anti-militant combing operations, wherein a few suspected militants were nabbed. “The main objective of the mass arrests is to create instability in the country and keep it on tenterhooks, so that the opposition is unable to function,” he alleged.