Staff Correspondent

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday warned that this time their party will resist any attempt to hold the next national election under a partisan government.

“They (govt) want to hold the polls (national election) as before. They’ll again rig and steal votes like before. But we’ll stand up and resist it. We must do it for the sake of our existence and rights and to protect Bangladesh and its people,” he said.

The BNP leader made the remarks in a brief rally on the premises of Nawabganj Shaheed Minra before the start of a march towards Boxanagar intersection by Dhaka District unit BNP.

Fakhrul said injustice like depriving people of their voting rights can no longer be tolerated. “We’re repeatedly being attacked and beaten up. We’re not willing to be beaten anymore."

He said the country’s people will be able to cast their votes freely if the election is held under a neutral government. “But it doesn’t happen now. They (AL) want to give their votes and also your votes. That's why people have started saying that if we had known before, we wouldn't have boarded your broken boat.”

The BNP leader said their party will not have any objection if Awami League comes to power again with people’s votes through a credible election under a neutral government.

He called upon the government to quit and dissolve the parliament and arrange the election under a non-party caretaker government by accepting BNP’s 10-point demand.

The BNP leader said their party together with like-minded opposition parties has launched a simultaneous movement to save the country and its people from the misrule of the Awami League government.

He urged young people to come forward and make this movement a success. “All the changes that have taken place in Bangladesh, from the Language Movement to the movement in the 90s and the Liberation War, everything has been done by the young people.”
Fakhrul said they will establish a government of people by defeating the current ‘monstrous’ regime through a mass upsurge.

The BNP leader alleged that the current government has destroyed the economy of the country through unbridled plundering and theft. “They (AL leaders) are getting rich suddenly and making a lot of money by indulging in corruption. The Awami League leaders who had no sandals on their feet, now ride expensive cars and build big houses by sucking the blood and stealing the money from the country’s people.”

He also said the government is implementing mega projects in the name of devolvement to plunder public money. "But development is not benefiting common people. If this government comes again, this country will not exist, the nation will not exist.”

Later, several thousand leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies took out a silent procession from the Shaheed Minar that ended at the Boxanagar intersection after parading nearly a two-kilometer stretch of the road.

Earlier on Saturday, the party observed a similar programme in all districts, except Dhaka, to press home their party’s 10-point demand.