We’ll strive to save Talpatti: Fakhrul

BNP, which sat out the January elections, has demanded a fresh poll, but insisted that its objective was not to attain power but to ‘restore’ democracy and ‘save’ Talpatti island.

“The government is running the country like a private company," said BNP’s acting secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a discussion in Dhaka on Saturday.

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“Their (the government's) plan is to clinch to power through the barrel of RAB and police guns.”

“Challenge before us now is not to attain power, but to bring back democracy and save Talpatti island, along with our maritime borders,” he said while reiterating his party’s demand for a fresh election.

The Talpatti issue resurfaced after the part of the sea where it was once located fell into Indian territory in the recent resolution of a dispute between Bangladesh and India.

The island, experts say, no longer exists on the map.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said the verdict ‘brought victory to the people of both Bangladesh and India’.

But the BNP claimed the government failed to present evidence to ensure its rights over the territory which allowed India to establish its ‘dominance’ over the Bay of Bengal.