Lawyer in High Court to force Hasina-Khaleda talks

A lawyer is asking the High Court to have the top leaders of BNP and ruling Awami League sit and try to find a solution to the ‘current political impasse’.

Yunus Ali Akhand, the lawyer known for such petitions, is also seeking an order to stop Bangladesh-wide campaign by the Ganajagaran Mancha demanding maximum penalty for convicted war criminals. The Mancha activists have also been pressing for a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party.

Akhand told bdnews24.com on Thursday that he would himself present the plea on Monday before the High Court’s vacation bench and would seek an order for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP chief Khaleda Zia to meet and talk.

He has named the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance, the BNP-led 18-party combine, the Election Commission, and the government as defendants in his petition.

Akhand also wants the High Court to order all political parties to stop enforcing general strikes until the petition was resolved.

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