The Awami League (AL) fears the interim administration may well push the country toward a 1/11-like situation if it held the general elections under the state of emergency, reports bdnews24.com.
"If the government wants to hold elections without withdrawing the state of emergency it would mean the government does not want election, it wants to create another 1/11," the party's policymaking presidium member Tofail Ahmed said Saturday.
He made the remarks in reference to the January 11, 2007 takeover by the military-backed caretaker government (CG) after days of political unrest and bloody street violence.
Acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam warned the CG not to put the sympathisers of the BNP-led four-party alliance to important posts on the pretext of administrative reshuffle.
"Don't try to fix election results through a reshuffle in the administration," he said.
Tofail and Ashraful were speaking at a memorial meeting organised by the party in Dhanmondi in the afternoon a day after the National Mourning Day. Acting president Zillur Rahman presided over the meeting.
Tofail's presidium colleague Amir Hossain Amu demanded withdrawal of the state of emergency and staging of national elections ahead of all other polls.
Another presidium member, Abdur Razzak, said the defeated anti-independence forces killed independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at a time when the country was about to be self-reliant.
Suranjit Sengupta, another leader who sits on the presidium, said, "Why has the present council of advisers not issued an order revoking the four-party alliance government's order that cancelled the National Mourning Day?'
Ashraful urged the government to take punitive measures against the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of Tangail and Chittagong for not allowing spontaneous observance of National Mourning Day in those places.
He also demanded immediate implementation of the verdict of Bangabandhu Murder Case.
To president Iajuddin Ahmed he urged, "The judges who felt embarrassed to hear Bangabandhu murder case cannot stay in the Appellate Division. Sack them."
He termed the judges who got appointment during the four-party alliance rule 'partisan'.
"Remove those partisan judges from the HC and the Appellate Division. If they go to the Appellate Division the verdict of Bangabandhu Murder Case will not be implemented even in 50 years." Turning his attention to the elections, he said, "If the European Union (EU) does not send observers to the election, we believe the USA and other countries will also not send monitors. If there is no observer, the election will not be acceptable."
Alleging that a 'Rokon' of Jamaat-e-Islami is chairman of Red Crescent Hospital, he demanded his removal, and cancellation of the board of directors of the hospital, as well.
AL leaders Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Abdur Rahman, advocate Shahara Khatun, AKM Jahangir Hossain, MA Aziz and advocate Kamrul Islam also spoke at the meeting moderated by AL publicity and publication secretary Asaduzzaman Noor.
