No need to bother with what US, UK, India say about polls: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday asked the opposition leaders and workers not to care what the US, UK and India say about the upcoming election as ultimately it is the people who have to oust the current government through a fierce movement.

“We don’t need to bother with what the USA and UK or India say. We need what our people say. Our people are clearly saying go away Hasina as your time is up. This regime must go,” he said.

Speaking at a rally in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office, the BNP leader said they must defeat the “demonic” government by putting up an unstoppable resistance against it. “We have to defeat and remove this regime by uniting the entire nation and carrying out a fierce fight braving the fear of death.”

He also said their party has no other opposition but to unseat the Awami League government for establishing a democratic state, a people‍‍`s state, a people‍‍`s government and a people‍‍`s parliament.

The BNP leader said all the ‍‍`false‍‍` cases and the ‘dictated’ verdicts against them will not last if the present regime is overthrown. “Let’s all move forward uniting people with that determination.”

He warned that the government will not be able to suppress BNP by arresting, jailing and convicting its leaders and activists, and even giving them capital punishment.

“We’ve taken to the streets and we‍‍`re carrying out our struggle peacefully to realise our rights. Our only aim is to ensure the fall of this regime,” the BNP leader said.

As part of their countrywide programme, BNP’s Dhaka south, north city and district units arranged the rally protesting what the party said was a ‘dictated’ verdict of the lower court against its acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a graft case.

Thousands of leaders and workers of the party and its associate bodies joined the rally by wading through knee-deep water in the Nayapaltan area due to heavy rain.

The rally was scheduled to start at 2pm but it was delayed by an hour as the Nayapaltan area was inundated with rainwater.

Braving the inclement weather, the BNP loyalists gathered at the rally venue in processions by chanting various anti-government slogans. They also stayed there in stagnant water till the end of the programme.

The BNP Secretary General appreciated the party rank and file for making the rally a success with their huge presence defying bad weather and rain. "I know you’re working hard. You’re standing here in the water and in the rain. You also can‍‍`t sleep at night due to police raids.”

He alleged that the government says during the day that they want a free and fair election, but they arrest the opposition leaders and activists and raid their houses at night.

The BNP leader said they urged the ruling party to face the BNP on the streets without using the state machinery.

Stating that judges will be the most accountable to Allah on Judgement Day, he urged the judges not to punish people unfairly. “You also have to be accountable to the country’s people someday for unjustly convicting our leaders and activists.”

Fakhrul said people are going through serious ordeals due to the unusual price hikes in daily essentials while the ruling party leaders are making huge money by indulging in widespread corruption and plundering.

The BNP leader bemoaned that the government has taken the country to such a level that even the VCs of the universities are now indulging in corruption.

He said a record number of people died of dengue this year but the government is least bothered about it as their only focus is on how to come to power again without an election. “We won’t allow them to do it.”

Earlier on Wednesday, a Dhaka court sentenced BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman to nine years imprisonment and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman to three years in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007. The party alleged that the verdict was given at the behest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and announced the countrywide protest rally.

BNP’s other metropolitan city and district units also observed a similar programme denouncing the court verdict.