Amid swirling discussions about whether the Awami League should be banned from politics, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi believes the public should decide on the party's fate after it faces justice for its atrocities, reports bdnews24.com.
On Friday, he called on the interim government to "swiftly ensure trials" for the mass killings during the July Uprising that eventually ended the Awami League's 15-year rule.
"Words are being thrown around on whether the Awami League should be able to participate in politics. Won't those who committed genocide be judged? Didn't people see who did it?" he said.
"Which police, OC, SP or DC played a role in this?... Which Awami League leaders gave the orders to shed blood, destroy the mass movement…."
He continued, "The Awami League is an old party. If they're judged for their crimes and then people allow them into politics, we won't really have anything to say."
On Thursday, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus made it clear that the interim government had no intention of banning the Awami League.
But Yunus said its leaders accused of grave crimes, including murder and crimes against humanity, would face trial in the country's courts.
Rizvi said, "If someone who did not kill students, robbed people or laundered money leads the Awami League, then why shouldn't they be allowed to do politics… that's all I've to say."
The BNP leader, however, emphasised that those who were engaged in criminal acts like "laundering money, killing children and adolescents, Abu Sayed and Mir Mugdha" must be put on trial.
"I doubt whether Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina believes in Allah. Her god was money… such people can never do good."
In a Facebook post during the wee hours of Friday, Hasnat Abdullah, a leader of the Anti-Discrimination Student movement, wrote about his encounter with a "plan to bring a 'Refined Awami League' back" in a recent meeting at the Cantonment.
Hasnat along with other Uprising leaders rejected the idea. They sought a complete ban on the Awami League. Following Hasnat's post on Facebook, a protest was launched on Dhaka University campus demanding the ban.
