Bangladesh News

In a reversal of a decision Awami League (AL) presidium finally agreed yesterday to sit in a dialogue today with caretaker government advisers, without a formal invitation.

Earlier on Wednesday, the highest policy making body of the party however had decided not to talk to the government without a formal invitation.

Sources said Commerce Adviser Hossain ZIllur Rahman sent an SMS to AL Acting President Zillur Rahman inviting him to an unofficial talk today at 5:30pm in the state guesthouse Padma.

On AL’s position about the disputed formal invitation, acting general secretary of the party Syed Ashraful Islam said in the age of electronics it could be either a email, a fax, or a letter. Asked, whether it could be an SMS too, the AL spokesman smiled.

Sources said ‘influential quarters’ put ‘pressure’ on a few senior party leaders to review their decision of not sitting with the government short of a formal invitation, or to find out an ‘alternative path’ for going to the unofficial talk without a formal invitation.

Following the ‘pressure’, the AL presidium sat yesterday and decided to use the SMS from the commerce adviser as the ‘alternative path’, the sources added.

At yesterday’s meeting, held in Acting AL President Zillur Rahman’s Gulshan residence, the presidium formed a seven-member delegation headed by Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury for the talk. The other members are Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Matia Chowdhury, and Syed Ashraful Islam.

NEWS BRIEFING
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Syed Ashraf said they were waiting for a signal from the government to sit for the second round of talks. He also said they will sit for the talk as soon as the schedule and the venue are set.

“We are ready to sit with the government as we’re sincere about the discussion,” he added.

Asked whether they were ‘pressured’ by ‘influential quarters’, the AL leader denied and said ‘no unseen force’ was putting pressure on them.

The AL spokesman also hoped that the government’s final dialogue will be held with detained party President Sheikh Hasina.

The meeting also expressed deep concern over Friday’s violence at Baitul Mukarram mosque and the attack on Hathazari police station by madrasa students. It held Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the incidents and demanded that the government takes active measures against the responsible.

“Jamaat-e-Islami was linked with the incidents. At least eight to ten organisations that have direct connections with Jamaat were responsible for the violence. Two Jamaat rokans [officially inducted cadres] were also involved in the incident,” said Ashraf adding that the ‘fundamentalists’ use mosques as their fronts for attacking police and journalists.

He said the people might suspect that the government is supporting them, as it is not taking any action against the violent ‘fundamentalists’ even after such a ‘major violent incident amid a state of emergency’.

He also questioned how a communal force could get away with such violence while the state of emergency is in force adding that the government must think about ‘where the country would head to in absence of stern actions against such violations of law’.

The meeting demanded that the party’s detained chief Sheikh Hasina be sent to the US for treatment on humanitarian ground, while it strongly criticised the government for its ‘indecision’ and for failing to control price hikes of essentials.

“Sheikh Hasina would not flee anywhere. She would be staying in the US as long as her treatment would require, and then she would return home to face the trials in the cases filed against her,” said the AL leader.

He also said the country needs elections as soon as possible since in his words, “The country can not be run by a handful of PhDs and World Bank clerks.”

The meeting decided to observe Mujib Nagar Day on April 17. A delegation comprising Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak and Suranjit Sengupta will attend the programme in Meherpur.