BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday urged the Indian government to send former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina back to Bangladesh to face trial for what he described as her “misdeeds and killings.”
“We want to say clearly to the Indian government: please send her back to Bangladesh and ensure she faces trial under Bangladesh’s law. Do not always go against the people of Bangladesh. The people will not accept that,” Fakhrul said while speaking at a rally of freedom fighters in Dhaka.
He accused Hasina, now staying in India, of giving interviews to the Indian media “without showing any remorse” for her actions. “Not even once has she expressed any regret. When journalists asked her if she would apologize for her actions, she said, ‘No, we will not apologize.’ That same person, that same lady, is now spreading propaganda from India,” he said.
The pro-BNP platform Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal organized the rally titled “The Upcoming National Parliament Election is Essential to Protect Freedom, Sovereignty, and Democracy” at the Jatiya Press Club, marking the upcoming National Revolution and Solidarity Day on November 7.
Fakhrul also said BNP will not take responsibility for any part of the July Charter that was added after the party had formally signed it.
“Our position is very clear. We will take responsibility for the parts of the July Charter that we signed. But we won’t take responsibility for what we didn’t sign,” he said.
He recalled that when the Charter was signed in front of Parliament amid rain, it was agreed that all parties would sign the points they supported and record their disagreements as a ‘note of dissent.’
“We signed the Charter with that understanding. But now, in the proposal sent to the Chief Adviser, they have completely ignored those notes of dissent and added some new issues. This is unfair and deceptive to the people,” the BNP leader said.
Even after such “deception” by the National Consensus Commission, Fakhrul said, BNP acted responsibly. “We held a press conference to express our position. We didn’t take to the streets, lay siege to the Chief Adviser’s residence, or to the Election Commission.”
