Bangladesh News

Awami League (AL) yesterday said creating a congenial atmosphere for holding the next parliamentary election by the middle of this year and handing over power to an elected government in a peaceful manner should be the main tasks of the caretaker government from this point on.

It also said the present government had even come to existence riding on the back of a movement of the grand alliance led by AL.

While evaluating the performance of the caretaker government led by Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed on the eve of its stepping into a year in existence, AL held the immediate past elected government of BNP-Jamaat-led four-party alliance responsible for the current crises plaguing the country including skyrocketing prices of essentials, and the crises of power supply, energy, food, fertiliser and unemployment. AL identified the immediate past alliance government’s ‘widespread corruption and misrule during its tenure between 2001 and 2006′ as the causes of the current crises.

At a crammed news briefing in currently detained AL President Sheikh Hasina’s political office in Dhanmondi of the capital, party’s Acting President Zillur Rahman termed holding of AL responsible on a par with BNP-Jamaat alliance for the pre 1/11/2007 incidents as ‘baseless, false, fabricated and ill-motivated’.

Urging the people not to be misled by the ‘propaganda’, Zillur asked them to evaluate the past year of the current caretaker government’s regime taking into account what it has achieved, and what positive changes have come to the nation.

Zillur, who used to be a close associate of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, said AL-led grand alliance had no other option but to boycott the now stalled January 22, 2007 election because BNP and Jamaat had planned to rig it with the help of the then chief adviser Iajuddin Ahmed.

He also held Iajuddin responsible for putting the country ‘on the verge of ruin’ by becoming ’slavish’ to Hawa Bhaban, known as the alternative powerhouse during BNP-Jamaat-led government’s regime.

AL put out a five-point charter of demands to the government asking it to meet those before the election. The demands include lifting of the state of emergency and the ban on politics to generate election enthusiasm, unconditional release of its President Sheikh Hasina, General Secretary Abdul Jalil and other detained leaders, withdrawal of all charges against Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, dialogues between political parties and the government over the election and other important national issues, ensuring independence of the Election Commission and setting up of a separate secretariat for it.

“It’s not possible for the government to tackle the current crises alone. Combined efforts of the government, the people and political party’s are needed, so the crises of food, agriculture, and price hike don’t deteriorate further and public confidence gets restored,” Zillur said.

“For that, we have demanded dialogues and an agreement between the political parties and the government,” added the acting AL chief.

He said price hike of essentials has not been curbed and employment opportunities have not increased while poverty and unemployment have risen over the last year. “As not even a single megawatt of additional electricity had been generated during the BNP-Jamaat regime, its effect fell upon the caretaker government, hampering production in agriculture and industry badly over the last year,” Zillur said.

The AL leader put forward several recommendations for overcoming the current crises, including suggestions to develop a dependable food security system to tackle the price hike of essentials and the grain shortage, increasing fertiliser production and ensuring its proper distribution, and arranging new loan facilities for the Sidr affected people for rehabilitation.

He urged the government to try the war criminals and to disqualify them from contesting in elections. He also suggested formation of a commission to identify the war criminals.

He demanded immediate release of the arrested teachers and students of Dhaka University, putting a stop to the ‘practice of distorting history’, necessary steps to place the memories of Bangabandhu at the much deserved distinguished place in national life, implementation of the verdict in Bangabandhu murder case, and a complete trial of the jail killings case.

He urged the government to curb the price hike of essentials to a reasonable level as soon as possible.

Zillur said the last year was full of ‘painful events that dashed public hopes and aspirations ‘. He also dismissed any possibility of a joint movement with BNP in the future, and expressed determination to continue their legal and constitutional battles to free Sheikh Hasina, who has been detained since July 16 of last year.

AL leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Motia Chowdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam, Abdul Mannan, Sultan Mohammad Mansur, Asaduzzaman Noor, Abdul Mannan Khan, Habibur Rahman Siraj, Nazma Rahman, Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Dr Dipu Moni, Maj Gen (retd) Shubid Ali Bhuiyan, and ABM Mozammel Haque were present among others.