BNP has taken lesson from hartal\\\'s ineffectiveness: Tofail

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said Wednesday that BNP has taken a lesson from the ineffectiveness of hartal and hoped that the party would wait until 2019 for the next polls instead of calling destructive political programmes, reports UNB.

"They've taken a lesson from the ineffectiveness of (Monday's) hartal. Don't take it negatively. I meant they've stepped back from calling further hartal," he told a press conference in the city.

The Commerce Minister said BNP has realised that calling hartal or throwing destructive programmes will not work. "I hope, they'll be careful and wait for a future election that will be held in 2019."

Mr Ahmed made the remarks when his attention was drawn to political instability that might have a negative impact on the success of the 20th Dhaka International Trade Fair-2015 beginning today (Thursday).

The Ministry of Commerce and Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) jointly arranged the briefing at the fair secretariat to let the media know about the fair.

Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and EPB Vice Chairman Shubhashish Bose were also present.

Mr Ahmed said BNP and its allies realised that there is no impact of hartal. "The country and its people, including the business community, are very conscious now. It's my personal belief that BNP and its allies will not go for any destructive programmes that might create a political instability in the country.

Referring to the killing of a schoolteacher in Noakhali, the Commerce Minister said the entire world and media know who did it but the BNP claimed that government agents were behind the killing.

"They enforced a hartal and they threw stones. If the stone throwers are government agents, their leader BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also turns leader of government agents," he added.

Schoolteacher Shamsun Nahar Jharna suffered serious injuries in Noakhali when she was pelted with brickbats by pro-hartal elements during the BNP-sponsored dawn-to-dusk hartal on December 29 and she died later.