Mass movement can't be stopped by threats, says Fakhrul denouncing PM's statement

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday warned that the ongoing movement cannot be suppressed by threatening to send the party's chairperson Khaleda Zia back in jail.

He made this remark at the chairperson's office in Gulshan in a response to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's statement that Khaleda Zia will be sent back to jail again if BNP does excesses in the name of movement.

Fakhrul said, "At a time when the country is going through extreme mismanagement, extreme economic and political crisis, she (the Prime Minister) is making such a threat - if she thinks it will disrupt or suppress the movement of democracy, then she is not living in the right place."

No one will be able to suppress this movement of the people. People are fighting for their rights, he added. "Such threats will do nothing to this movement."

"Her (Prime Minister's) statement has proved that they are vengeful and they do not believe in democracy and independence of the judiciary."

It is because of political vendetta that PM Hasina made such statements and in such a situation, he added.

Govt is crossing limits

Fakhrul said it is the Awami League government which is crossing their limits. "They are the ones who destroyed the democracy today by creating state terror and they are completely using their terrorists to obstruct us from holding rallies, our constitutional right."

"Have you seen in any civilized country that the government goes on strike?" Fakhrul said, adding that the transport movement had been stopped five days before our rally in Barishal.

The launch and speedboat services from Patuakhali to Barishal has stopped. "How do you explain it?" he asked.

The AL govt is trying to come back to power by holding a fake election again, he added.

The BNP secretary general said, 'People have woken up now, people will not allow all these fraudulent activities to happen. They are determined to bring back democracy at any cost."

People will actually form their government and parliament through an impartial caretaker government, said Fakhrul.

"For that, the first condition we have given is that the Prime Minister should resign along with his government."

"The government is afraid of the people. As the people are waking up, there will be mass movement. I believe they (Awami League) have to go away through the mass movement."

Allegations of remittance smuggling

The crises that have arisen in Bangladesh are entirely due to their (AL) corruption, Fakhrul said.

"Even today, it has come out in the newspaper, one-third of those who have migrated to Canada in the last 10 years are Bangladeshis. You will get evidence of these like the falling remittances."

Remittances are decreasing but the number of the migrated workers has increased again, he added.

"So where is the remittance going? I said the other day that these remittances are being smuggled from abroad to abroad. Those who are involved with the ruling party are smuggling it. That is why the crisis has arisen in the country."

The last divisional rally to be held in Dhaka

Mirza Fakhrul said the last divisional rally will be held in Dhaka on December 10.

"We have announced that we will hold the rally in each division. After that, the responsibility is on the government what they do or not."

"We will continue our protest at any cost to restore democracy along with the people," Fakhrul added.

As part of its move to continue the pace of its ongoing movement, the BNP on September 27 announced programmes of a series of public rallies in 10 divisional cities.

The organisers said the rallies are meant to denounce the price hike of daily essentials and fuels, the death of five party men in previous police action in Bhola, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, and Jashore, and to ensure the freedom of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The BNP has long been demanding that the next general election be held under a caretaker government, not under any political government. The government rejects the demand as unconstitutional.

The rally in Barishal will be the 5th one by the BNP at the divisional level on Saturday as four others were held in Chattogram, Mymensingh, Khulna and Rangpur.