An outburst of grievances

A day after Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu's remarks about the Awami League, ruling party general secretary Obaidul Quader hit back yesterday, saying Inu knew about the consequence of his party if it joined the national election without AL.

"Yesterday, Mr Inu had an outburst. Whatever grievances he has, we will discuss them at our 14-party meeting. If JSD participates in the election without Awami League, Inu himself knows very well what would be the result of that election,” Quader, also minister for road transport and bridges, told a programme at TSC of Dhaka University.

Speaking at a programme in his home district of Kushtia on Wednesday, Inu said that without his party and some other allies, AL would not be able to go to power.

“You may have 80 paisa, but you are not the owner of one taka. You will not get power until you have one taka," he said.

"You are 80 paisa. And Ershad, Dilip Barua, Menon and Inu together makes it one taka. If we are not with you, you would be wandering around the streets with the 80 paisa. You won't see power in a thousand years,” he said, urging AL not to ignore JSD.

Yesterday, around four hours after Quader responded to the JSD president's remarks, Inu held a press conference at the Secretariat around 1:30pm to explain his remarks.

Addressing the press conference, Inu lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also AL president, saying Hasina had showed her time-befitting and statesman-like wisdom by forming the 14-party grand alliance.

“Being the owner of 80 paisa or 99 paisa, Sheikh Hasina had honoured the partners, which are the owner of 20 paisa or one paisa,” he said.

He also said Bangladesh would be another Afghanistan if the AL-led alliance was affected.

Inu stressed the need for lasting unity to make Bangladesh free from militancy and to take the country forward. Without mentioning anyone's name, he criticised some Awami League leaders for "making statements against the unity" and "neglecting" the partners.

Referring to Khaleda Zia, he said, "We should keep in mind that BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is still hatching conspiracies... So the partners of the alliance will have to maintain their unity at any cost and show respect to one another."

At TSC's programme, Quader said the 14-party alliance would convene a meeting with the partners over JSD president's remarks on Awami League's strength.

He said Inu might have made the remarks out of some "grievances" or "complacence" about the strength of his own party but he suggested him to review the assessment.

"It's not clear what grievance or resentment prompted him to make such comments... but the Awami League is a big party, and so it should not quickly react to such an issue," Quader said.

Bangladesh Chhatra League organised the programme, celebrating Unesco's recognition of the historic March 7 speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as part of the world's documentary heritage.

Speaking about BNP's rally scheduled for November 12 at Suhrawardy Udyan, the AL general secretary said the government would not sit idle if people's lives and property came under threat.

“Law enforcement agencies will act on the situation," he said, adding, "Now BNP's opponent is BNP itself. They cannot complete any programme peacefully. They fight among themselves and blame the government for this."