Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar on Wednesday accused the BNP government of political failure and immaturity for blaming opposition parties for alleged conspiracies to destabilise the country.
Speaking at a discussion marking the inauguration of the Bangladesh Labour Party’s new office on Topkhana Road in Dhaka, P0rwar alleged that the government was relying on intelligence networks inherited from the ousted Awami League administration to discredit the opposition.
The Bangladesh Labour Party is a member of the 11-party alliance.
“You are trying to shift the blame onto the patriotic opposition while secretly maintaining close relations with the Awami League,” Porwar said.
He questioned the credibility of intelligence information used by the government, alleging that the same intelligence apparatus had previously implicated innocent people in militancy cases, subjected them to extrajudicial killings and detained them in secret facilities such as Aynaghar.
Porwar accused the government of failing to take action against intelligence and police officers who had served under the Awami League administration.
He alleged that some police officers maintained secret contacts with the Awami League and even helped its leaders and activists organise rallies.
“These are your intelligence personnel. You trust those intelligence officers who helped the Awami League stage rallies across all districts of Bangladesh in a single day,” he said.
Porwar argued that the government was using information supplied by these officials to accuse opposition parties of creating instability.
Describing the approach as political failure and immaturity, he warned the BNP against continuing what he called shortsighted leadership.
“If the BNP does not step away from shortsighted leadership, you have brought things to a total mess in seven months,” he said.
The Jamaat leader stressed that the state, government and political parties were separate entities and that criticism of government policies should not be portrayed as opposition to the state.
He said speaking against corruption, extortion and partisan appointments was a legitimate responsibility of opposition parties.
Porwar accused the government of appointing party loyalists to public positions, failing to contain rising essential commodity prices, increasing gas and electricity tariffs and allowing the law and order situation to deteriorate.
Despite these grievances, he said, opposition parties had refrained from enforcing hartals, blockades or violent political programmes.
Turning to constitutional reform, Porwar demanded implementation of the July National Charter and the referendum verdict, saying 70 per cent of voters had endorsed four questions in the referendum.
He acknowledged differences among political parties over the charter but said the government should respect the public mandate and proceed with the proposed reforms.
Porwar said the opposition remained willing to resolve disagreements over constitutional amendments through dialogue.
He warned that closing the door to compromise could create opportunities for the Awami League to regain political space.
