Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Wednesday neither dialogue nor election will be worthwhile leaving their party's chairperson Khaleda Zia in prison.
He said, "The government has agreed to hold a dialogue; on the other hand, it has also increased Khaleda Zia's punishment period."
Such moves are totally contradictory and this can never be a democratic approach, Fakhrul said at a human chain programme organised by BNP in front of the National Press Club protesting conviction of Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman in graft cases.
Stating that the government's attitude does not indicate its desire to hold productive talks, the BNP secretary general said, adding the government should come to the course of democracy and create a democratic atmosphere in the country.
He said, "You (government) have announced polls ... you are electioneering across the country boarding helicopter whilst we (BNP) are fleeing one place from another."
"Our chairperson is in prison; our activists and supporters can't even stand in the roads together ... no impartial election can be arranged under such circumstances," he said a day before Oikya Front's scheduled dialogue with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mr Fakhrul reiterated that the government must accept the 7-point demand made by the Jatiya Oikya Front, led by Gono Forum president Dr Kamal Hossain, to hold a credible national election.
He said BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia must also be freed for the sake of a good election.
Terming the increase in the prison term of Khaleda Zia 'unprecedented and unusual', BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said, "It is intentional ... the government wants to hold the election without BNP and its chairperson."
The last January 5, 2014 election wasn't acceptable to the country's people because BNP boycotted it, he said, adding, "I want to say today that the next parliamentary election will not be participatory without BNP and its chairperson."
Maudud Ahmed said the government has agreed to hold a dialogue as BNP has been demonstrating peacefully.
Pronouncing parallel continuation of dialogue, agitation and election, he said, "The dialogue will be held on 7-point demands and BNP's demonstration will proceed until success comes."
BNP standing committee member Abdul Moin Khan, vice-chairman Selima Rahman and Barkatullah Bulu, advisers to the chairperson Amanullah Aman, Abdul Awal Mintu, Abul Khair Bhuiyan; joint-secretary general Moazzem Hossain Alal, among others, were also present at the programme.
According to a news agency, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Monday announced a three-day countrywide programme including the human chain protesting the conviction of its chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.
As part of the programme, the party will also observe a token mass-hunger strike on Thursday in all metropolitan cities and district towns
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