Govt will not allow BNP to take to the streets, two ministers assert

Two ministers have said the government will not allow the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami to take to the streets and proceed with their proposed movement.

They stated this on Friday, a day after BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia had said she would announce anti-government movement anytime after December.

Speaking at the inaugural session of Gonotontri Party’s national convention in Dhaka, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim said: “The Jamaat and BNP will not be allowed to take to the streets.”

Addressing Khaleda, he said: “You’re the leader of that party which established Hawa Bhaban and helped militants to rise.”

The Awami League Presidium member said: “Don’t threaten or try to scare us. We’re a party of freedom fighters. We fought risking our lives. We liberated the country. Why do you try to scare us?”

Speaking at the same programme, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said: “Khaleda Zia will lease out the country to Razakars and militants to grab the power -- we will not allow it to happen as long as we are alive.”

Inu, the President of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD), claimed that Khaleda did not work for democracy, rather she worked for militancy and war criminals.

The BNP chief had said at a programme on Thursday: “I’ll call for movement anytime after this month of victory.”

She asked leaders and activists of the BNP-led alliance to get ready for the movement.

Khaleda called the Awami League-led government oppressor and urged all to join the movement to oust it.

“A government of the people has to be established by ousting them (the ruling alliance),” she said.

Reacting to her statement, minister Nasim said: “Khaleda Zia speaks the language of Pakistan. It’s not the language of the people. You see how children have been killed in Pakistan.”

He urged the leaders and activists of the ruling alliance to face BNP and Jamaat on the streets.

“Bangladesh is progressing. There is nothing to be worried. You get ready to face the threat of Razakars. Youths need to occupy lanes, villages and streets. Then no trace of the BNP will be found,” he said.

Nasim claimed that martial law would have been proclaimed had the Jan 5 elections not been conducted.

“That’s why (Prime Minister) Sheikh Hasina staged the polls, putting her life at risk,”

Workers Party President and Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon and leaders of other ruling alliance also spoke at the session.