Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 1118 Mon. July 23, 2007  
   
Front Page


Protest the govt 'injustice'
Khaleda tells expatriates of harassment


Accusing the military backed caretaker government of breaching the emergency act, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia urged expatriate Bangladeshis to protest the 'injustice' since 'the government is not treating everyone equally'.

"The government does not follow the emergency act, it imposed restrictions on our movements while it is not touching those who are speaking about reforms," the former prime minister said during a tele-conference with leaders of the Australia chapter of BNP on Saturday night.

She also said, "The government is harassing us but it is not taking any action against those who did wrong and got involved in corruption."

"I didn't do anything wrong but the government is harassing us instead of those with links to corruption," she said urging the expatriates to raise public opinion against the 'injustice'.

"You have to protest the injustice as there is no chance of protest inside the country right now," she told her expatriate followers adding that politics is totally banned in the country now but a group of people are being allowed to carry out their political activities in the name of bringing reforms.

Blasting the activities of the 'reformist' leaders of her party, Khaleda Zia said, "Politics is in prison now and a group of people are serving their own interests by taking the opportunity...they want to protect their own skins as they were involved in misdeeds earlier."

She alleged that vested interested groups are threatening her party leaders with possibilities of being implicated in legal cases if they do not join the bandwagon.

"Their only agenda is to split the party, so they want to implement their agenda through holding a party council under such a circumstance," Khaleda Zia said adding that the 'conspirators' want to split the party just to weaken it.

Criticising the party's secretary general for engaging in 'conspiracies to split the party', the BNP chairperson said Mannan Bhuiyan is not capable of taking the charge of BNP. "He does not even believe in the party's ideology," she quipped.

When asked whether she will expel Bhuiyan, Khaleda said, "Everyone is telling me to do so ...let's see."

Delowar Hossain, convener of the Australian chapter of BNP, moderated the tele-conference while Khaleda Zia replied to her expatriate followers.

When asked about her statement regarding the arrest of her hitherto political archrival Sheikh Hasina, Khaleda said her issuing the statement was the correct move.

When expatriate BNP leaders asked her to comment on the new political party of Ferdous Ahmed Qureshi, Khaleda said everyone has the right to form a party but it does not mean that the existing ones need to be broken up.

Meanwhile, Ashraf Hossain, joint secretary general of the party, told The Daily Star that he cannot believe Khaleda Zia could say such things.

"I don't believe this.....She is still our chairperson.....The party chairperson cannot say such things," he said when asked about Khaleda's allegations against the 'reformist' leaders including Mannan Bhuiyan.

Khaleda Zia had another tele-conference with the USA chapter of Jatiyatabadai Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of BNP. Convener of USA JCD Mohammad Arif Hossain Mithun moderated the conference.

According to the US based news agency News World, during the conference Khaleda termed the 'reformist' leaders of her party as 'renegades' and said those leaders are now speaking of reforms only to 'keep the skeletons in their closets hidden'.

"It is nothing but a conspiracy to split the party," she told her US based student leaders on Saturday night, urging them to be united against the 'conspirators'.

When asked about her possible arrest, she said cases will probably be filed against her to hold a national election keeping her away from it. She asked emphatically, "Why should they arrest me?"

She said her party leaders and activists know whose purpose the 'reformist' leaders want to serve, and urged for holding of the national election to save the country from the crisis.

When a US based JCD leader demanded expulsion of Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Khaleda said, "Just wait!"

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