BNP is giving Awami League room to do politics, alleges Jamaat leader Parwar

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Mia Golam Parwar has alleged that the BNP is colluding with the Awami League through contact with Delhi and giving the party an opportunity to do politics. He made the remarks on Wednesday (21 October) at noon at the inauguration of the new office of the Bangladesh Labour Party, a partner in the 11-party alliance, on Topkhana Road in the capital.

The senior Jamaat leader alleged that the BNP is stalling on implementing the referendum verdict precisely because it does not hold the spirit of July. He said Jamaat-e-Islami and the 11 parties are in a movement demanding implementation of the referendum verdict.

Criticising the failure to implement the referendum verdict, Golam Parwar said rejecting the verdict of nearly 70 percent of the people in the referendum amounts to not holding the spirit of July. According to him, instead of implementing the July charter, the government is appointing party people to constitutional posts and to government, semi-government and autonomous institutions.

He warned that if the state is run by the force of a majority while ignoring the verdict given by the people in the referendum, it will create the path to fascism.

Criticising the government, Parwar said the present government is running with the same intelligence forces that were involved in enforced disappearances and killings during the fascist era. Within seven months the government has become entangled in disorder. He also alleged that the prime minister is speaking on the basis of information supplied by the fascist-era intelligence forces, and claimed that members of the police and intelligence forces from the Awami League era have not been replaced.

Alleging that the BNP itself is not following its declared 31 points, the Jamaat leader said the government is practising partisan appointments in every field, contrary to point 9 of the 31 points.

Golam Parwar also spoke about prices and the condition of workers. He said workers are not well off because of rising prices of daily essentials, yet the prime minister is putting the blame for extortion and price hikes on the opposition.

The Jamaat secretary general also commented that the workers' ongoing movement for higher wages should be accepted through discussion.

Speaking from the stage of an alliance partner's office inauguration, the Jamaat leader questioned the roles of the government, the BNP and the intelligence agencies at the same time. His remarks indicated that the alliance's movement centred on implementing the referendum verdict will continue.

There was no immediate reaction from the BNP or the government to these remarks. However, the exchanges among political parties over the July charter and implementation of the referendum verdict have remained one of the main talking points in politics in recent weeks.