The opposition chief said the military would not sit idle if the country plunged into chaos.
“Our military works for maintaining peace abroad. They will not sit idle in case of any anarchy in the country. They will duly discharge their duties,” the BNP Chairperson told a rally in Bogra.
The activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a key ally of the BNP, went berserk after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced its leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee to death on Feb 28 on war crimes charges perpetrated during the nation’s 1971 War of Independence.
Army personnel are deployed to keep order at the Shajahanpur Police Station on March 3
Several top leaders of the Jamaat, including its former and current chiefs, are standing trials on raft of war crimes charges. Two of them, Abdul
and Sayedee, have been convicted.
Bogra was the worst-hit during the latest spell of violence following Sayedee's conviction. Clashes on March 3 had left 12 people dead there.
On the day, four people died after police were forced to open fire at
as they had attacked local Shahjahanpur Police Station.
The opposition claimed a total 170 people were killed in police firing. The BNP uses the Bengali word for genocide by the government to describe the deaths.
Later, troops were deployed for several hours to guard the station.
Referring to that incident, Khaleda, the wife of former military ruler Gen Ziaur Rahman praised the soldiers for their role in ensuring people’s security.
She pointed to Bangladeshi soldiers’ leading role in the UN peace-keeping missions in many troubled regions across the world. "If there is no peace in their own country, the foreigners will say the army cannot ensure peace in their own backyard."
“Time has come today to think of this,” she said.
Ruling Awami League leaders and even several ministers have alleged that Jamaat’s mayhem to save the war criminals and BNP’s demonstrations, demanding instalment of a non-partisan caretaker administration to oversee the national elections, aimed at destabilising the country.
Khaleda’s statement came amid the brewing tension between the two top political parties of Bangldesh and it also came on the same day (Mar 24) when former Army chief HM Ershad had imposed military rule by removing then BNP government in 1982.
Bangladesh has seen a torrent of direct military interventions since 1975 and the 2007-8 caretaker government is accused of the front office for the military.
The High Court later termed ‘illegal’ the military ordinances imposed by Zia, BNP’s founder, and Ershad.
Khaleda was travelling to Bogra and Joypurhat to rally support for the opposition demand to restore the caretaker government system.
The government annulled the interim administration system in 2011 through the 15th Amendment to the Constitution. As a result, the next parliamentary polls are expected to be held under a party-led government which the opposition say will be unfair. They have been on the streets ever since demanding restoration of the system and threatened to stay away from the elections.
A standoff between the two key political alliances of Bangladesh has led to an ‘impasse’. People from various quarters have been advocating talks between Khaleda and her arch political rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to end the deadlock.
Despite repeated calls from the ruling party for a dialogue, the
such an idea during a recent rally in Manikganj where she termed the government ‘a killer’ and had hinted at possible tougher agitations to oust the government.
Khaleda left Dhaka on Saturday and stayed overnight in Bogra.
On Sunday morning, she addressed a rally at Matidali Biman Crossing in Bogra on the way to Joypurhat. She talked about military’s role there. Later she left for a rally at Panchbibi of Joypurhat to mourn the deaths of three persons killed there in clashes with the law keepers.
