No one can resist Khaleda from holding rally: BNP

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Tuesday their chairperson Khaleda Zia will hold a rally together with people in Dhaka city, the day she wants to do so, reports UNB.

Referring to a media report of a national daily that Khaleda will not be allowed to hold any rally in the city, Fakhrul said: "Our chairperson Khaleda Zia will hold the rally on a Dhaka street the day she wants to hold it. And she'll hold the rally together with people," the BNP spokesman made the remarks while addressing a discussion organised by Doctors' Association of Bangladesh (DAB) marking the 33rd death anniversary of Ziaur Rahman at the National Press Club in the city Tuesday.

Mirza Fakhrul asked the government to shun evil plan to block opposition rally in the city.

"Leave the vanity. As Hitler, Namrud, Feraun, Yahyah - none had been able to cling to power - you won't be able either," he said.

Claiming that the government keeps on holding office with the force of arms, the BNP leader said the current regime which came to power through a 'voter-less' election will not the able to hang onto power for long.

He came down hard on the government for what he said its repressive acts and said: "You won't be able to face people when they'll take to the streets, no matter how many guns are with you."

Fakhrul said Awami League (AL) had earlier tried to perpetuate its power by forming Baksal and annihilating democracy, but it failed. "So, we want to tell the government to eschew your thoughts of cling to power without people's mandate."

He claimed that AL was revived by BNP founder Ziaur Rahman. "AL had been annihilated through the formation of Baksal in 1975. Ziaur Rahman revived AL by introducing multiparty democracy after assuming office."

Fakhrul also claimed that Zia had played a vital role in bringing back Hasina to the country from her exile. "It's also a fact that Sheikh Hasina returned home on May 17 and Ziaur Rahman was assassinated on My 30."

The BNP spokesman said they do not undermine the role of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the country's Liberation War. But, he lamented that the current government has presented Ziaur Rahman in textbooks as a villain by distorting history.

Meanwhile, Fakhrul inaugurated a three-day book exhibition programme on the ground floor of BNP's Nayapaltan central office in the afternoon.

Jatiyatabadi Prokashana Sangstha arranged the programme, marking the death anniversary of Ziaur Rahman.