Staff Correspondent:

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, “The polling stations will be filled with the sound of voters’ footsteps again, this is what we want…so much for that. Then why is the vote being delayed, why is it being talked about on social media? This is the question of the whole nation on Thursday. Then surely there is a deep conspiracy going on inside; this cannot be done.”

He said this at a demonstration and protest rally organized in front of the BNP central office in Nayapaltan in the capital on Thursday afternoon. The Krishak Dal organized this program in protest against ugly comments and slogans against BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, “We have said, we want reforms. Hold the election at a reasonable time, give a specific time, do not prolong it too much. In London, the Chief Advisor to the interim government, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, met BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman; A joint statement came from the meeting. The people of the country have got some relief; but I think some people do not like this relief.”

He said, “BNP immediately condemned the murder incident in Mitford in the capital. Those involved in it have been expelled for life. The statement of the chairman and the secretary general has been condemned after the incident. It has been said that those involved should be given exemplary punishment, wherever they are, in whatever condition they are.”

He also said, “Sheikh Hasina used to speak on their behalf in Parliament for the mafia godfathers of Narayanganj and Cox’s Bazar. And if someone extorts or does wrong in the name of the party, organizational punishment is being taken. As punishment, someone is being expelled, someone’s position is being suspended or we ourselves are telling the police, filing a case against them or we are also filing a case – this is Tarique Rahman. And why are ugly slogans being raised against him in the Mitford incident?”

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General said, “Begum Khaleda Zia has been a victim of terrible oppression for six-seven years. Sheikh Hasina has imprisoned her in a dark room where she couldn’t breathe. She is saying ugly things against the person the entire nation sympathizes with! Once, Tarique Rahman was thrown from the roof, his waist was broken…. Tarique Rahman is a symbol of oppressed and tortured. Various kinds of nonsense are being said against him by creating various contents on social media such as Facebook and even in rallies. So a BNP youth was shot in Khulna and his leg-vein was cut and BNP activist Abdur Rahim was killed in Cox’s Bazar. Why is that not being talked about?”

Rizvi said, “The responsibility for law and order lies with the government… yet nothing was said to him, nothing was said to the administration. They are holding a rally against Tarique Rahman, who has been in London for 17 to 18 years. Who himself was a victim of Sheikh Hasina’s oppression and torture.”

Stating that Tarique Rahman ensured the victory of democracy with his six to seven years of leadership, he said, “Tarique Rahman is a symbol of courage and confidence.”

Others spoke at the rally, which was chaired by Krishak Dal President Hasan Jafir Tuhin and moderated by General Secretary Shahidul Islam Babul.