BNP senior leader Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Friday said the ruling Awami League seems to be behaving like an opposition party as it is taking to the streets with counter-political programmes. Speaking at a rally, he also warned that the Awami League will fail to stop the ongoing movement for the restoration of democracy with the counter programmes. “They (Awami League) seem to have become the opposition party. If you look at their role, it seems that the Awami League is not the ruling party, but the opposition party,” Khosru said. When BNP announces peaceful programmes, he said Awami League also comes up with counter ones, including “peace rallies”.
“We would like to say that BNP’s peaceful programmes can’t be obstructed. Lakhs of people have taken to the streets and it has been proved that mass waves can’t be stopped by shooting, killing and implicating opposition leaders and activists in false and ghost cases.”
Textile Engineers Association of Bangladesh organized the rally in front of the Jatiya Press Club to press home BNP’s 10-point demand, including the resignation of the government and holding the next polls under a non-party administration, and to protest the hikes in the prices of all essential items and utility services. Referring to Awami League’s peace rally countering the opposition’s programmes, Khosru questioned whether the government has disbanded the enforcement agencies as the ruling party leaders and activists are taking to the streets to ensure peace.
He said the Awami League’s political weakness has reached such a level that it now cannot attract people with distinctive political programmes. “So, they’re trying to obstruct BNP’s programmes.” “We would like to say that you are now known as a laughingstock to people, no matter how much you give counter programmes, hold peace rallies and how much you talk about protecting people’s assets. The people of the country laugh at your programmes,” the BNP leader observed.
He said Awami League is now taking the shelter of police, RAB, BGB and the court after getting completely politically defeated. “You have been defeated politically also by taking a stand against the people.” The BNP leader alleged that the ruling party leaders and activists have been siphoning off huge amounts of money by indulging in corruption and plundering. “Those who are plundering the country’s resources and siphoning off money abroad must be accountable to people in the future, and they must return the money to the country,” he said.
