Staff Reporter :
Awami League (AL) General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister, Obaidul Quader on Saturday said the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is an extremist party responsible for various nefarious activities in the country’s political history.
He came up with the statement while addressing a press conference held at the AL president’s Dhanmondi political office in the capital on Saturday morning.
Quader did not mince words as he accused BNP of being the birthplace of extremism in Bangladesh, comparing BNP’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to a reckless driver of politics.
Quader claimed, “Like a driver of a reckless car, Mirza Fakhrul is a reckless driver of politics.
He wants to make accidents (as a driver) as the past records say so. BNP men want to repeat the accidents again and again as there is no other activity to survive in politics.”
The AL General Secretary pointed to what he described as blood stains on BNP’s hands, attributing the origins of political violence and conspiracy in Bangladesh to the party.
Quader highlighted the infamous events of August 15, 1975, describing it as “the most scandalous murder in the history of human civilization,” and blaming General Ziaur Rahman and Khandaker Mostak as the masterminds behind it.
Quader also brought attention to the grenade attack on an anti-terrorism rally of the Awami League on August 21, 2004, where over twenty-three people lost their lives.
He accused the BNP-Jamaat coalition government of staging the ‘Joj Mia’ drama to cover up the incident.
The AL General Secretary didn’t spare criticism for the November 3 Jail killing day, stating that all these events occurred during the tenure of BNP.
Referring to BNP’s alleged tactics of blaming others for their own misdeeds, Quader accused the party of killing its own leader and putting the responsibility on Awami League ahead of elections.
He argued that BNP has a history of staging dramas to hide the real facts and continued such ill-activities even after Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s release from jail.
Quader concluded by stating, “What Mirza Fakhrul is saying after coming out of jail is the echo of these dramas.”
AL Organising Secretaries Abu Saeed Al Mahmud Swapan, Sujit Roy Nandi, Office Secretary Barrister Biplab Barua, and central and city unit leaders of AL were present at the press conference.