BNP vows to oust government on its 40th founding anniversary

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has pledged to oust the government through continuous effort on the occasion of its 40th anniversary on Saturday.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 1 Sept 2018, 08:05 AM
Updated : 1 Sept 2018, 08:25 AM

BNP leaders, led by Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, pledged to remove the Awami League from power as they offered their homage to the founder of the party Ziaur Rahman by placing flower wreath on his grave at Chandrima Udyan in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

“This ‘illegal’ government has snatched away all of the rights of the people and destroyed the democratic institutions of the state,” Mirza Fakhrul told the journalists.

“We take a vow on the day of the party’s founding anniversary that we will continue our struggle to oust this fascist government; to bring an end to bad governance and re-establish democracy through the release of the ‘mother of democracy’ Begum Khaleda Zia.”

The BNP secretary general expressed his hope that the goal would soon be within reach.

The Awami League has remained in power for a second consecutive term after the 2014 election that was boycotted by the BNP.

The BNP’s demands for Khaleda Zia’s release and the Eleventh Parliamentary Election in December under a non-partisan election-time caretaker government have been dismissed by the ruling party Awami League.

“The biggest challenge for the BNP is to re-establish democracy in the country and restore the rights of the people,” Mirza Fakhrul said in response to queries from journalists.

The BNP also held a public meeting marking the founding anniversary on Saturday afternoon at its central office in Naya Paltan.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman (who is currently living in London) have conveyed their greetings to the leaders and activists of BNP through separate statements.

Nearly a thousand BNP leaders and activists were present when the BNP paid tribute to its founder, including standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Abdul Moin Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

Then President Ziaur Rahman had established the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP on Sept 1, 1978 by bringing together the supporters of six different political parties and ideologies under one platform. Ziaur Rahman’s wife, Khaleda Zia, has been leading the party continuously for 35 years in its 40 years of history.

The BNP chief was sentenced to five years in prison over the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on Feb 8 and has been serving her sentence at the old Central Jail in Nazimuddin Road since.

The party, which has been in power for four terms and in the opposition for two terms, is going through the toughest crisis in its history, believe political analysts.