Delwar, Jamaat's Mojahid meet Khaleda in jail
BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojahid yesterday met detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia for the first time at the sub-jail on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises.
The two leaders of BNP-led four-party alliance had a nearly three-hour meeting with the BNP chairperson, which political observers viewed as a significant development.
Delwar and Mojahid were allowed to meet Khaleda a day after Home Affairs Adviser MA Matin said there is no legal bar to releasing the BNP chairperson and her elder son Tarique Rahman from jail to facilitate their treatment abroad.
And Communication Adviser Ghulam Quader yesterday said the government is trying its best to narrow the gap with political parties.
There is no reason for the increasing gap, he told reporters at the Secretariat.
Meanwhile, Khaleda was granted bail in Barapukuria coal mine graft case yesterday and Tarique got bail in the last of the 13 cases against him.
Talking to newsmen at the sub-jail entrance after meeting Khaleda, the BNP secretary general said, "BNP along with its alliance partners will sit in government-sponsored dialogue, and take part in parliamentary polls if Khaleda Zia is released and Tarique is allowed to have treatment abroad."
"We, the four-party alliance, want to participate in the election and in dialogue with the government with Khaleda Zia leading us," Delwar said.
"BNP is an-election oriented party. It has participated in all elections in the past and it wants to take party in the next elections too," he added.
Delwar avoided a reply when asked whether they were allowed to meet Khaleda as part of some compromise with the government.
But Mojahid, who was beside him, replied in the negative.
Asked if the BNP chief would ask the government to release her, Delwar said, " We have already asked for her release and we have also got court verdict in this regard."
Responding to another question, he said, Khaleda Zia repeated her request to the government to allow ailing Tarique to get treatment abroad.
“As mother, I demand that Tarique be sent abroad immediately for treatment,” Delwar quoted her as saying.
The former premier expressed concern that high prices of food items are causing immense sufferings to people, the BNP secretary general said.
Comments