BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday accused the Awami League of rigging votes in Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections and branded the ruling party as a ‘pathological thief’.
He said, “Their (AL’s) only aim is to indulge in theft. We usually call them vote thieves. They rig votes in the national elections and even in Union Parishad polls. “Now they rigged votes in the Supreme Court and Dhaka Bars. In fact, they are pathological thieves,” he said.
Speaking at a discussion programme, the BNP leader also said Awami League does nothing, but steal. “They make their living by stealing and it is their profession and addiction…They also depleted the country’s resources through theft.”
He also alleged that the ruling party destroyed the country’s power sector by indulging in widespread stealing.
Regarding the SCBA polls, Fakhrul said there was a ruckus in the Supreme Court after false and stamped ballot papers were found there on Tuesday night, the night before the election. “They (pro-AL lawyers) assaulted our seven-time elected Supreme Court Bar Secretary (Mahbubuddin Khokon) and wounded him. “
He also said a case was filed against 1,000 pro-BNP lawyers, including Khokon, over the incident.
“What country do we live in now? Where have we brought this country to? Awami League has to answer the people for this. They have taken this country to extreme destruction. They have destroyed all our culture, traditions and democratic values. They have destroyed all our democratic institutions…” the BNP leader bemoaned.
The two-day voting in SCBA elections started around 10 am on Wednesday, but it was suspended immediately when some pro-BNP lawyers staged demonstrations demanding the formation of an election conducting committee led by a neutral person.
The discussion programme was arranged at the Jatiya Press Club marking the launching of the book titled “Amar Rajnitir Rojnamcha” written by BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain.
Fakhrul said Awami League does not believe in justice, fairness and democracy. “That is why they established a one-party Baksal rule in 1975 by destroying democracy and shutting down all newspapers and dissenting opinions.
He feared that there is no guarantee that Khandaker Mosharraf’s book, Amar Rajnitir Rojnamcha, would not be banned by the current Awami League regime.
The BNP leader said various media outlets, including Bangladesh Times, Bichitra, Channel1, Islamic TV and Diganta TV were shut down during the rules of Awami League. “But this party again claims they have given democracy an institutional shape.”
He said the country’s people have now turned their backs on the present government as they are now unable to buy rice, lentils, salt, eggs and other daily essentials due to unusual hikes in their prices.
Fakhrul also said 42 percent of people in Bangladesh are now living below the poverty line while 80 percent of people cannot eat protein like beef, chicken, mutton and fish. “But in that country, they have frequently increased the prices of electricity and gas.”
He said that the government is now going to take advance income tax as the coffers have got exhausted. “They (AL leaders) are stealing from the banks and the reserves…the people of the country have woken up to defeat this regime through a movement.”
Musharraf said he wrote the book to share his long experiences, thoughts and actions as a university teacher and a politician.
“Politicians of our country can hardly manage time to write books as they remain so busy with politics…I got some time while in jail and used it for writing the book. I did it (wrote the book) for the present and future generations. I strongly believe it’ll be useful to them.”
