AL questions BNP's hartal support

The Awami League yesterday said BNP extended its support to the countrywide hartal for December 26 called by Sammilita Olama Mashayekh Parishad as the main opposition wants to protect the war criminals from trial.
The ruling party said the BNP-Jamaat alliance supported the dawn-to-dusk strike also to recover the cantonment residence that Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia possessed earlier and to save her "corrupt" sons -- Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko.
AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam at a press conference at party president Sheikh Hasina's political office in Dhanmondi termed Parishad Chairman Muhiuddin Khan a "war criminal, rajakar and anti-liberation element."
Muhiuddin has recently announced the hartal to protest against the National Education Policy.
Syed Ashraful also said if the main opposition did not have any relations with the war criminals, they would not extend their support to Muhiuddin's hartal.
The AL leader urged the opposition to withdraw their support for hartal and expressed the hope that people would reject the strike.
Ashraf, also the LGRD and cooperatives minister, demanded that the government launch a probe into any mismatch between the wealth statements Khaleda Zia submitted to the Election Commission (EC), Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Board of Revenue and the assets she possesses right now.
"We will urge these organisations to find out if there is any anomaly in Khaleda Zia's sources of income, current wealth accounts and what she submitted to these agencies," Ashraf added.
Protesting against BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain's statements about the wealth accounts of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other family members, Ashraf urged his counterpart not to make any false statement before the nation.
He said the BNP leader made false statements over the issue to mislead the people and divert public attention from corruption "committed" by the Khaleda Zia family.
The list of Khaleda's belongings at the cantonment house that the PM read out in parliament is completely true and based on facts and figures, he said, adding, they would make it public, if need be.
Delwar has recently spoke about Bangabandhu and Hasina's property and wanted to know the Tax Identification Number of Bangabandhu.
It proved Delwar's ignorance as the TIN was introduced in the country during 1990s, Ashraf commented.