Demanding a total withdrawal of the ban on politics and of the state of emergency, newly appointed BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain yesterday said those who want to split the party do not belong in it anyway as they are working at the behest of ‘certain other quarters’.
He also demanded immediate release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Expressing his frustration at the government’s current bar on him to enter the BNP office in the capital, Delwar at a news briefing in his NAM apartment, said the government should allow indoor politics across the country, otherwise the people might start thinking that it allowed limited amount of indoor politics due to its ’special interest regarding BNP’.
Rejecting the allegation, Ashraf Hossain, expelled joint secretary general of the party, said Delwar is not the legitimate secretary general of the party and his faction is talking nonsense since it failed to occupy the party office.
Meanwhile, BNP’s central office may remain under lock and key as law enforcers barred party members from entering the office for the second consecutive day yesterday despite the relaxation of the ban on indoor politics.
Brig Gen (retd) Hannan Shah, an adviser to the BNP chairperson, yesterday visited the party office but the law enforcers prevented him from entering the office.
On the other hand the government yesterday hinted at its intention of not allowing anyone to enter the office until the internal conflict of the party, over which faction is the mainstream, is settled.
“How can the government allow opening of the office until they themselves decide which group will go to the office?” Law and Information Adviser Mainul Hosein told reporters at the ministry.
“Permission for opening the office was not granted as there was a possibility of clashes if the two factions had been allowed to go there. Should we assist them in confrontation or stop it?” Mainul asked saying that is the reason why the government had asked the parties to take permissions prior to having meetings of their forums.
Criticising Hosein’s comment on BNP, Hannan said the interim government should not comment on political parties’ internal affairs.
Khandaker Delwar Hossain on the other hand asked why the authorities are barring them from opening the BNP office while all the other parties have their offices already opened.
“Why do we have to settle with them? There is no reason for a conflict… the leaders and workers are not with them,” he said adding that the pro-Bhuiyan faction is just scrambling to survive.
“The ban on indoor politics hasn’t been lifted yet. Politics must be allowed in districts, upazilas and in unions also. If not, it will not be acceptable to the people,” he said.
Replying to a question he claimed that most of the leaders of BNP are with his faction and said former finance minister Saifur Rahman, also a member of the party standing committee, does not intend to be involved in politics for now for health reasons.
“I hope Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman will not attend any more meetings called by Bhuiyan as he did not attend the last meeting called by him,” Delwar said adding that all members of the standing committee, except one or two, are with him.
He also said the party standing committee will meet soon with permission from the detained chairperson. “If the permission to open the office is not available from the authorities, the meeting will be held in a hotel or a restaurant,” he said.
Terming Delwar’s attempt to enter the party office an act of ‘encroachment’, Ashraf Hossain said, “We on the other hand can’t encroach upon the office as it is our own party office and we will go to the office under the leadership of the secretary general [Bhuiyan] once the crisis is resolved.”
“We don’t believe in violence,” he added.
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