The BNP didn’t say anything about releasing incarcerated chief Khaleda Zia out on parole and will ensure her freedom through mass movements without favours from anyone, said the party leaders.
The leaders made the announcements on Sunday (Apr 7) during BNP’s mass hunger strike to press home their demands for Khaleda’s proper treatment and release from prison.
“We want Khaleda Zia to be released without any condition. We didn’t say anything about releasing her on parole,” said Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
“We have clearly said that receiving bail is her right. She has been forcefully convicted in a case where the rest of the accused are out on bail,” he added.
He said that they will do everything necessary to make sure that she is released. “She has always fought for democracy. It was her who gave the people democracy in 1990.”
Saying that the government has turned the country into a prison, Fakhrul said, “The government has destroyed all democratic institutions and the spirit of the Liberation War. They have destroyed all our achievements.”
BNP’s policymaking National Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Rai said that their chief “doesn’t know what parole is.”
Addressing the government, he said, “The government themselves said that Khaleda maybe released on parole. Then why are you obstructing her bail in court?”
“We don’t want her to be released on someone’s favour. We’ll free her through movements,” Rai said.
Krishak Janta League President Abdul Quader Siddiqui who also took part in the strike said, “Being released on parole will be her death and the death of democracy.”
Members of BNP’s policymaking forum along with Oikya Front leaders and activists took part in the hunger strike that lasted six hours.