Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged on Sunday the interim government to arrange national election without delay for restoring democracy in the country.
Mentioning an adviser's comment that politicians were desperately seeking to get power, he said, "His (adviser) comment is unfortunate. We are not desperate to get power. We have fought against Sheikh Hasina. We call upon the government to arrange the national election as soon as possible."
Mirza Fakhrul Islam was addressing a discussion marking the fifth death anniversary (4th November) of former mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation and also a heroic freedom fighter Sadeq Hossain Khoka at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh at Ramna in the capital.
"We are politicians, so we would say about election. We do politics for serving the people through election. But it doesn't mean that we are only hanker after for power," he said.
Mentioning late Sadeq Hossain Khoka as a complete politician, Mr Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "Sadeq Hossain Khoka was a legend. He played a significant role during the War of Liberation."
Recollecting the fond memories with late Sadeq Hossain Khoka, BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas said that Sadeq Hossain Khoka breathed his last while undergoing treatment in the USA but could not die in own country.
Engineer Ishraq Hossain, son of late Sadeq Hossain Khoka and also member of BNP's international affairs committee, said that his father had spent five and a half years in solitary condition as the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina denied issuing him passport while he was undergoing cancer treatment in the United States of America.
Earlier, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in a separate programme called upon on Sunday the countrymen to create strong resistance so that the fallen fascist Awami League could not resurge in the country in future.
He made the comments after paying tributes to party founder and former President Ziaur Rahman at his grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital.
BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, vice-chairman Barkat Ullah Bulu and joint secretary general Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel were present, among others.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com