BNP threatens to ‘topple govt before freeing Khaleda’ if she is convicted of graft

The BNP has threatened to launch an agitation to bring down the government if Khaleda Zia is convicted of graft in the Zia Orphanage Trust trial.

BNP National Standing Committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain issued the warning in Dhaka on Sunday.  

“Put Khaleda Zia in jail if you (government) wish to. But if you think that we will cry, you are wrong,” Gayeshwar said at a discussion at the National Press Club.

“We will unseat you before freeing Khaleda Zia. Once the government is toppled, Khaleda will be free. It will be a freedom of the people of Bangladesh,” he added.

At another discussion at Dhaka Reporters Unity, Mosharraf said, “If any verdict is delivered wrongly against Khaleda Zia, we will not demand her freedom.”     

“The movement after the verdict will aim to topple the government,” he added.

A special court is set to deliver the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case verdict on Feb 8.

The three-time former prime minister is accused along with five others of embezzling Tk 21 million foreign donation meant for the trust.

They face maximum life term imprisonment if convicted, and in that case, Khaleda will be ineligible to run in the next general elections scheduled by the end of this year.

The BNP says the trial of Khaleda is part of a conspiracy to keep the party out of the polls again like in 2014, an allegation the government denies, saying the judiciary acts independently now.

Ruling Awami League leaders are also sceptical about the BNP’s ability to launch street agitation as the BNP leaders are threatening the government with dire consequences in case of Khaleda’s conviction.

Mosharraf said all the senior BNP leaders were “ready to go to jail willingly if Khaleda is put in prison wrongly”.

He reiterated their claim that the government was trying to remain in power by keeping the BNP away from polls.

“There will be no polls without Khaleda Zia and the BNP,” he asserted.