Govt to blame for US' 'disgraceful' visa policy: Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said the new visa policy announced by the USA for Bangladesh is 'disgraceful' for the nation as it has revealed to the entire world there is no democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the country.
"They [govt] have become unnerved [by the US visa policy]. They're trying to say it's not their problem. Then, why did the visa policy come…the visa policy that the United States has announced is not graceful for us as a nation," he said.
Speaking at a rally, the BNP leader said the ruling party has created such a situation in the country that the US was forced to announce the visa policy saying action will be taken against those - politicians, bureaucrats, law enforcers and judges - creating obstacles to the free and fair election.
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"This means it is clear not only to the people of the country but also to the whole world that there is no democracy, human rights, or the rule of law in Bangladesh," he said.
The BNP leader said a good sense still did not prevail upon the government as it is trying to implicate the opposition leaders and activists in 'false and ghost' cases, and arresting and jailing them.
He said the government will not be able to suppress the ongoing movement of the BNP by repressing, arresting and jailing the BNP leaders and activists.
BNP's Dhaka south and north city units organised the rally in front of the party's Nayapaltan central office in protest against the High Court verdict that upheld conviction of party standing committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmood Tuku and party chairperson's advisory council member Aman Ullah Aman in separate graft cases.
Fakhrul called upon the government to immediately step down and dissolve the parliament by handing over power to a non-party, neutral government accepting public demand. "It's the only way to overcome the political crisis and ensure a credible election in the country."
He also said the government would not be able to have any political gain by seeking the favour of any country as its days are numbered.
The BNP leader also called upon the party leaders and workers to take the movement forward unitedly.
About the new budget, he said the poor and working people will be affected the most by the budget proposals for the next fiscal year.
He also said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal mocked people by calling the budget poor-friendly in his post-budget press conference.
"The poor people, including rickshaw pullers and even amputated beggars, have not been left out of the tax net and they also need to have a TIN number," he said.
