Jamaat chief's remarks hurt, still hope for united movement: BNP leader Nazrul

BNP senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan said today (10 January) said they were hurt by the comments of the Jamaat-e-Islami chief, who claimed that the army and his party are the only tested patriotic forces in Bangladesh.

Speaking to reporters at the BNP Chairperson's Gulshan office after a meeting with a delegation of Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote, he, however, expressed the hope that Jamaat would join the movement for the restoration of democracy alongside other democratic parties in the future.

"We have no such distance with Jamaat. They [Jamaat] also want democracy and elections, and they speak of human rights, as we do," the BNP leader said.

He said, "But if anyone claims that they alone are patriots, naturally, we will feel hurt. We will say, brother, that is not true. We all are patriots."

The BNP leader hoped that no politician would make such remarks in the future.

Asked whether BNP would hold any meeting with Jamaat, he said their party was not formally engaged in a simultaneous movement with Jamaat.

While Jamaat was also part of the movement against the Awami League government, like BNP and other parties, their programmes were not the same, he said.

"We hope that in the coming days, we all will be three in the movement to restore democracy, and they (Jamaat) will also join the movement," Nazrul said.

In response to another question, he said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been receiving proper care at the London Clinic.

"By the grace of Allah, her treatment is progressing well. We urge the people of the country to pray for her swift recovery so that she can return to us after the treatment," the BNP leader said.

Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote chief and National People's Party (NPP) Chairman Dr Fariduzzaman Farhad also spoke, urging the interim government to arrange elections after promptly completing the necessary reforms.