AL yet to swing into action
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said his party is only rehearsing and the BNP's movement would be gone once the "game" begins in full swing.
"We are yet to start the game; this is just the beginning. What would happen to their mass movement when the game will be played?" said the AL leader.
He said the BNP now have leaders and activists with them, but not the people. "They also don't claim of having the people's support."
Quader made the comments while addressing a rally, organised by the Dhaka city south AL, in front of the party headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue yesterday.
Though the rally was organised to mark the Mass Uprising Day yesterday, senior AL leaders in their speeches talked about the BNP as the ruling party held rallies in the city apparently to counter the opposition's programmes.
The BNP held rallies in the capital and other divisional cities and district towns yesterday to press home its 10-point demand, including resignation of the AL government and national election under a non-party caretaker government. The BNP's like-minded opposition parties also staged rallies across the country simultaneously.
Blasting BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for his recent remarks on Baksal, Quader said, "Please explain what does Baksal stand for. It is Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League. Baksal is not a single party, rather a national party comprised of all parties, all opinions.
"Ziaur Rahman applied to Bangabandhu in writing to become a member of Baksal. There is evidence. The founder of your [Fakhrul] party joined Baksal through applying, and you call Baksal a one-party government."
Speaking at the rally, AL Presidium Member Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said, "The Awami League has not taken the field yet. We are only rehearsing, and the BNP is nowhere to be found. What will happen to BNP if Awami League takes the field? People's involvement is needed to stage a mass uprising. But the BNP has no involvement with the people.
AL Joint General Secretary Mahbub Ul Alam Hanif said the party leaders and activists would be in the field with the law enforcement agencies if any attempt was made to foil the next general election.
He alleged that the BNP was hatching conspiracy ahead of the election as they knew that they would lose it.
The ruling party and its associate bodies and pro-AL organisations held four other rallies at different venues in the capital yesterday marking the Mass Uprising Day.
Speaking at another event at the Banani Model School ground, Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, reiterated that the caretaker government system would not be restored and the next parliamentary polls would be held in due time following the constitutional provisions.
The Dhaka city north AL hosted the programme marking distribution of warm clothes among low-income people.
Jubo League's two city units staged two rallies at the capital's Jatrabari intersection and Mohakhali Kancha Bazzar area while the Chhatra League's Dhaka University unit staged another rally at Shahbagh.
AL insiders said the party leadership do not want to see the BNP's programmes getting exclusive media coverage, and that's why the ruling party has adopted the strategy of holding counter-programmes.
AL leaders also think that holding such programmes on the day of the BNP's events help develop a positive feeling among the party leaders and activists. The ruling party is not likely to reverse this strategy anytime soon, they added.
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