Staff Reporter :
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday warned the government to release the party’s ailing Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately and unconditionally, or face severe consequences.
“We want to say clearly: free our leader, the thrice-former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, immediately without attaching any conditions.
Otherwise, get ready for the consequences,” Mirza Fakhrul declared at a massive rally in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the capital.
The rally marked the BNP’s largest public show of strength this year, demanding the unconditional release of their leader Khaleda Zia so she can receive advanced medical treatment abroad, as recommended by her physicians.
BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas presided over the rally, asserting that the people of the country will no longer tolerate Khaleda Zia’s imprisonment.
Calling on the people to take to the streets soon to remove the Awami League from power, Mirza Fakhrul stated, “The country is not safe in the hands of the current ‘plundering regime.’”
He added that the BNP will intensify its movement to protect the country from Awami League’s misrule and to restore democracy and people’s rights.
“The government has jailed Begum Khaleda Zia and many BNP leaders with the intention to destroy democracy,” Fakhrul said.
He emphasized that Khaleda Zia’s role in various democratic movements cannot be separated from the country’s democracy.
This rally was the first major event arranged by the BNP in eight months since the pivotal events of October 28 last year, which saw almost the entire active leadership of the party in Bangladesh jailed.
Mirza Abbas criticized the current state of the country, claiming it is now filled with thieves and plunderers due to the absence of democracy and the rule of law.
“The BNP leaders and workers must take to the streets with a strong resolve to have Begum Khaleda Zia freed from jail unconditionally and to restore the country’s democracy and people’s rights,” he said.
“Our leader Begum Khaleda Zia must be freed. When thieves and criminals are being released, what is the problem in freeing her? We will not stop our movement without the unconditional release of Begum Khaleda Zia, as we believe democracy will not be restored without her,” Abbas added.
BNP standing committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Begum Selima Rahman, among others, addressed the rally.
Defying the rain, party activists gathered from 12:30 pm in front of the party office, chanting slogans and participating in processions.
A makeshift stage was prepared for the rally. Meanwhile, a large number of police personnel were deployed in Nayapaltan and its surrounding areas to maintain law and order.