AL given go-ahead for hunger strike

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Awami League (AL) yesterday got permission from the authorities to go on its token hunger strike planned earlier for May 5 demanding release of its detained President Sheikh Hasina, albeit for only in its central and Dhanmondi offices in the capital.

AL got the permission as it had sought clearance from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Naim Ahmed.

Earlier on April 30, DMP imposed a ban on the AL’s announced protest programme terming it illegal under the Emergency Power Rules 2007.

AL Acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters last night after a meeting of the party presidium, the organisation’s highest policy making body, that they will go on a token hunger strike between 10:00am and 4:00pm tomorrow only at the two allowed places.

The meeting held in Acting President Zillur Rahman’s Gulshan residence also severely criticised Presidium Member Suranjit Sengupta for his statement earlier in the evening that the army should also be represented at the proposed dialogues between the caretaker government and political parties.

Replying to a query, Ashraf said they will not have any objection if army representatives are present at the dialogues. Terming the army as a part of the government, he said it is a matter for the government to decide who they will keep at the dialogues.

Sources said all presidium members of AL opined that an explanation should be sought from Suranjit for his statement.

Earlier in the evening, two senior leaders of AL and pro-Khaleda faction of BNP — Suranjit Sengupta and Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah — said the army should also be represented at the proposed official dialogues between the caretaker government and political parties as ‘they are actually ruling the country from behind the scene’.

“It will be good to have dialogues with those [the army] who have been actually ruling the country, instead of the dummies, as neither the chief adviser nor any other adviser can take any decision independently,” said Hannan Shah, an adviser to detained BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, while addressing the BBC Bangladesh Sanglap in Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.

The pro-Khaleda BNP leader categorically said the army has been ruling the country with a government formed by them with people of their choice. “The entire nation is being ruled by the task forces and by a special intelligence agency, so we might reach somewhere having dialogues with them,” said the former army official.

While Suranjit Sengupta said, “As the army formed the caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed, they should be present at the dialogues as a part of the government.”

Opposing the views of the two leaders of traditional archrivals AL and BNP, two other panellists — veteran journalist also cultural activist Kamal Lohani, and Country Director of Action Aid Bangladesh Farah Kabir — said presence of the army at the dialogues will be improper. “It will not be possible to restore democracy by bringing in the army to the dialogues,” said Kamal Lohani.

BBC Bangla Service in conjunction with BBC World Service Trust organised the Sanglap [dialogue] moderated by Kamal Ahmed.

Opposing the Election Commission’s (EC) latest delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, both leaders of AL and a faction of BNP observed that the parliamentary election might be delayed ’somehow’, and warned that there might be incidents of cases being filed against the EC regarding the delimitation.

Replying to a query, all panellists said a design for delaying the holding of the next parliamentary election is at work in the name of holding local government elections first. They demanded that the EC holds the parliamentary election first. Suranjit suggested the commission to hold both local government and national polls simultaneously before December to ease public confusion.

The dialoguers also asked the government to make a clear statement before the nation regarding the money recovered through the ongoing anti-corruption drive.

Responding to another query, Brig Gen (retd) Hannan Shah said the chiefs of BNP and AL — Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina — have been detained illegally in an effort to humiliate them politically.

Suranjit claimed that Hasina is innocent while false charges have been brought against her. He demanded that the government releases the AL chief and send her abroad for treatment immediately.

Both Hannan and Farah Kabir asked the government to allow law to take its own course, so the legal rights of the chiefs of two most major political parties in the country may be ensured.

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