The BNP held an hour-long protest demanding the release of its incarcerated chief Khaleda Zia on Wednesday (Mar 5).
No one voted during the Feb 28 city corporation polls, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said during the human chain demonstration in front of the National Press Club.
“This proves that the people of the country have lost faith over the government and election commission,” he said and added that Khaleda’s release was imperative to restoring democracy.
The BNP leader reiterated that Khaleda was ill and that the government was denying her treatment out of fear of losing power.
“She is being denied a fundamental right such as medical care,” he said, adding that the government has repeatedly turned down the party’s demands to let the former premier receive treatment at a specialised hospital of her choosing.
He said that the cases against Khaleda are false and she is eligible for bail in all of them, adding, “Those actually involved have been granted bail.”
Fakhrul alleged that Awami League was trying to establish a one-party regime and have made all the arrangements for that and Khaleda’s imprisonment was a ploy to serve that purpose.
The party’s National Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, who was present at the rally said, “Khaleda Zia should be released even if it’s only for her treatment so that she can go abroad or to a hospital of her choosing in the country.”
Meanwhile, BNP leader Mirza Abbas hoped for Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader’s fast recovery and said, “If Obaidul Quader can be sent abroad for treatment, why can’t Khaleda Zia?”
Another member of the policymaking forum Moudud Ahmed said that the government was interfering with Khaleda’s bail for their own vendetta.