BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Zainul Abedin Farroque on Friday called upon Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami to apologise to the nation for its past mistakes and take part in the upcoming national election.
“I saw in a newspaper that they (Jamaat) said PR is not needed if people don’t want it. May Almighty Allah guide them on this holy Jumma day. I urge them to gradually change their political strategy, apologise to the people if there are mistakes in the past history, and join the election,” he added.
Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader also claimed that Jamaat is making various demands to delay the election, while at the same time preparing for the polls and seeking votes from the people by using religious sentiment.
Farroque stated, “On the one hand, they say they won’t join the election without PR or a referendum.
“On the other, they’ve already declared 300 candidates and started campaigning from mosques, even going door to door telling people they will go to heaven if they vote for the election symbol Scale. These are not my words, these are the words of people in my constituency.”
Farroque, a former opposition chief whip in parliament, said they are not concerned about Jamaat’s election campaign. “I told my people, don’t worry. Put your trust in Allah. The nation knows that the party of Shaheed Zia, Begum Khaleda Zia, and Tarique Rahman has never betrayed the people while in power.”
He also said no power on earth can defeat the people if the interim government ensures a fair election as BNP is truly the party of the masses in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Swadhinata Ghoshok Parishad arranged the discussion at the Jatiya Press Club, with its President Sheikh Shamim Hasan Onik in the chair.
He said BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman made the July-August anti-discrimination student movement a success with the wholehearted support of the country’s 18 crore people.
“Now, attempts are being made to create confusion over the national election under the Prof Yunus-led government by inventing various methods, tactics and debates such as PR and other issues. This is nothing but a ploy to thwart the election,” Farroque said.
He also alleged that conspiracies are still ongoing to derail the election and destabilise the country by Awami League leaders who are now staying in Delhi.
Farroque said some people in Bangladesh are colluding with Awami League under Delhi’s provocation to foil the election under interim government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
The BNP leader warned that the country’s people will resist any such conspiracy.
He said many attempts were made to erase the name of Ziaur Rahman during the 16 years of Awami League’s rule.
“But they could not remove Shaheed Zia’s name from people’s hearts. You can break a picture by throwing stones at it, but you cannot erase a name from the heart,” he added.