Ashraf warns Awami League supporters ‘something terrible’ might happen, asks them to stand united

Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has called on his party activists to remain united, saying he fears ‘something awful’ might take place.

His warning came at a discussion in Dhaka marking the 11th anniversary of the 2004 grenade attack to kill party chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
 
“Something horrible might happen if we do not get united,” he said on Wednesday.
 
Ashraf is the son of Syed Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh’s acting president during the 1971 Liberation War.

He was killed inside Dhaka’s Central Jail on Nov 3, 1975 along with three other leaders, barely three months after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s assassination.
 
At a National Mourning Day programme earlier in August, Syed Ashraf had asked Awami League activists to stay alert to avoid a repetition of 1975-like situation.
 
“Our party was in power then (1975) but where were our leaders and activists?” he had asked, “Was there no failure on our part?”
 
At Wednesday’s programme, Ashraf said the killers had chosen the night of Aug 14 to kill the nation’s founding father as it was the day when Pakistan came into being.
 
“The anti-liberation forces killed Bangabandhu because he destroyed their dream of a cherished Pakistan and led Bangladesh to freedom,” he said. “Such conspiracies are still in motion.”
 
At least six Awami League activists have been killed in factional clashes in two weeks since Ashraf called for unity.
 
A war of words is going on after several Awami League leaders questioned the post-liberation role of coalition partner JaSaD. 
 
But the Left-leaning party claims it is a plot to destroy the unity in the ruling alliance.
 
“We’re not safe just because we’re in power,” Ashraf warned. “[BNP Chairperson] Khaleda Zia is conspiring to destroy the Awami League.”  
The public administration minister again called for ending factional clashes.
 
“Ignore petty interests and work for the nation’s sake,” he added.