There has been a controversy in the country’s political arena stirred by some reported remarks of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in an interview with an Indian media outlet that was published on Monday.
According to media reports, Fakhrul told Ei Samay, a daily based in West Bengal, that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was pressuring BNP with a movement demanding the introduction of a proportional representation (PR) system, as his party did not agree to Jamaat’s proposal of giving up 30 seats in the upcoming national elections slated for February next year.
This prompted Jamaat, once a coalition partner in the BNP-led government, to react angrily on Tuesday, calling Fakhrul’s reported remarks untrue, baseless, and vindictive.
However, Fakhrul, now in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, categorically stated on Tuesday that he did not make such statements and that his interview was presented in the wrong way.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) has also joined the furore, as it did not like a part of the interview where Fakhrul reportedly talked about inclusive elections, including the participation of Awami League activities, which are currently banned.
“Jamaat asked for 30 seats from us. We did not show interest. We mentioned a much lower number, which they did not like,” Fakhrul said in the interview.
“We can assure you we will not allow Jamaat to fly any higher. We, without any reason, have given them much more importance than they deserve. PR and other things are nothing but a tactic to put pressure on BNP,” he said.
He went on to say, “Although NCP did not seek seats from us, their leaders are trying heart and soul to prevent BNP from forming a government.”
Fakhrul also said in the interview, “We have said that let Awami League and all its alliance partners, even the Jatiya Party, participate in the elections. Let there be a fair and free election. For this, many are calling me an Indian agent and a broker of the Awami League. But why would we do the misdeeds that Sheikh Hasina did? Hasina did not let her opponents take part in the elections in the last 15 years, and she got punished for that. If we do the same, we will also get the return.”
“BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s statement about asking for 30 seats is untrue and vindictive. We find it difficult to believe that a senior politician like Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has made such a statement. There is no truth or decency in this statement. If the BNP secretary general fails to present evidence in support of his statement, he will have to express his regret to the people of the country,” Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said in a statement.
NCP Convener Nahid Islam, also a former adviser to the Yunus-led interim government, condemned the BNP secretary general’s statement on including Awami League.
At a press conference at the party office on Tuesday, he said that BNP should move away from the politics of rehabilitating Awami League.
Following extensive media coverage in the country and outcry from Jamaat and NCP, Shairul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP media cell, said in a statement sent to the media, “BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has categorically stated that he did not make such a statement in his interview with the Indian daily Ei Samay. Although different media outlets ran the news item under different headlines, this is wrong and misleading.”
“As a senior political leader, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir would never make absurd remarks,” he said.
“He (Fakhrul) condemned the publication of such news and requested people not to get misled. He also asked journalists not to run the misleading news,” Shairul added.
