I feel ashamed to be a politician: Ershad

Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad says he feels ashamed to be a politician after visiting victims of arson on Monday at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospitals (DMCH).

"It's agonising. I feel ashamed as a politician. I don't want such politics, this is not expected," said the former military dictator.

Arson and bombings of vehicles have been reported everyday since Jan 5, when the BNP chief Khaleda Zia announced an indefinite blockade of roads, rail and waterways across the country.

According to the DMCH burn unit, 34 people have been admitted to the hospital since then and three of them had died. Currently there are 17 patients being treated at DMCH with burns suffered from violence during the blockade.

Ershad, now a special envoy to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, called the BNP to stop violence.

"Let us do politics to wipe off tears (of the victims and their families)...Let us sit together to find a solution to the problem."  

He came down hard on the BNP for its ongoing movement and said: "The people would have enforced their programmes if they were a popular party...There would be no need to unleash violence."

The head of the Jatiya Party, which is now the Opposition in Parliament, said they do not want an interim election.

"Let us first fix the culture of elections", he added.