BNP leader fears civil war if not solved soon

The country may plunge into a civil war if the present political crisis centring restoration of the caretaker government system is not resolved within the next two or three months, BNP standing committee member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman said yesterday.
“A severe political crisis is going on in the country. The only way to resolve it is holding dialogue between the two rival camps--Awami League and BNP,” Rahman, also an ex-army chief told a discussion at the capital's Jatiya Press Club.
United Democratic Front organised it, demanding release of the leaders of different political parties.
Separately, senior BNP leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain yesterday claimed that the government wanted to stay in power by force through not holding the next parliamentary polls.
“But their [government] daydream of staying in power won't come true, as 90 percent of the country's people support BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's movement on the caretaker government system,” he told a discussion of Doctors Association of Bangladesh at Jatiya Press Club.
The pro-BNP body organised it demanding release of Daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan.
Mosharraf, also a BNP standing committee member, claimed that the government was planning to hand over power to a third force after creating anarchy in the country. “But consequences of such thinking will not bring good for you [government],” he added.