War crimes issue raised to hide failure: BNP
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Opposition BNP has dismissed allegations that it would enforce hartal to thwart the war crimes trial and said the government invoked the issue to hide its failures, reports bdnews24.com.
Senior BNP leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy alleged Friday that the government was only using the trial for crimes against humanity during the nation's independence war in 1971 as a 'political weapon'.
AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said the day before that BNP chief Khaleda Zia had called the general strike to make sure the war criminals did not face trials. The ruling party's presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury said Pakistan had pushed Khaleda into calling the strike to impede the trial.
At a media briefing at the party's Dhaka Metropolitan headquarters office at Naya Paltan, Roy criticised the warnings by several ministers to resist the June 27 dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal.
"Since BNP has no objections about the trial, creating obstructions is out of question."
The government is only using the slogan of war crimes trial to conceal their failures in meeting people's fundamental demands, said Roy, a member of the policymaking standing committee.
He also countered Home Minister Sahara Khatun's comment in Gopalganj that the people would prevent the hartal if they found it irrational.
The opposition gave the protest programme to realise the people's demands, Roy said.
"Prior to the national polls, they said they would try all the war criminals. But now they are speaking only of the crime against humanity," he added.
He demanded punishment of the killers of about 30,000 Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal activists and freedom fighters during the regime of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Answering a question, Roy refuted the allegation that the issue of declaring the June 27 hartal was not discussed in the party meeting.
Senior BNP leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy alleged Friday that the government was only using the trial for crimes against humanity during the nation's independence war in 1971 as a 'political weapon'.
AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said the day before that BNP chief Khaleda Zia had called the general strike to make sure the war criminals did not face trials. The ruling party's presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury said Pakistan had pushed Khaleda into calling the strike to impede the trial.
At a media briefing at the party's Dhaka Metropolitan headquarters office at Naya Paltan, Roy criticised the warnings by several ministers to resist the June 27 dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal.
"Since BNP has no objections about the trial, creating obstructions is out of question."
The government is only using the slogan of war crimes trial to conceal their failures in meeting people's fundamental demands, said Roy, a member of the policymaking standing committee.
He also countered Home Minister Sahara Khatun's comment in Gopalganj that the people would prevent the hartal if they found it irrational.
The opposition gave the protest programme to realise the people's demands, Roy said.
"Prior to the national polls, they said they would try all the war criminals. But now they are speaking only of the crime against humanity," he added.
He demanded punishment of the killers of about 30,000 Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal activists and freedom fighters during the regime of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Answering a question, Roy refuted the allegation that the issue of declaring the June 27 hartal was not discussed in the party meeting.