C T Online Desk: What is your opinion about the BNP’s ongoing movement and its divisional rallies?
We believe every political party has the right to hold rallies and political campaigns. This is why we didn’t comment on the BNP’s divisional rallies. But the scenario is different for Dhaka as the BNP wants to hold a rally on December 10, blocking a busy street in the capital’s Naya Paltan. The Awami League has a central office in Bangabandhu Avenue, but we haven’t held a political rally in front of our office in the last decade. The BNP is conspiring to unleash anarchy in the Paltan area as it did with Hefazat-e-Islam during the Shapla Chattar rally in 2013. The law enforcement agencies have suggested that the BNP hold its rally in a large, open space like Surhawardy Udyan. It should be noted that anyone who wants to sabotage the BNP’s program can do it easily at Paltan by throwing stones from any roof near the venue.
One of the key demands of the BNP is for a caretaker government to be reinstalled before the election. Some people say violence may erupt if the Awami League and the BNP stay rigid in their positions. What do you think about it?
Violence is nothing new for the BNP as its supporters have been carrying out violent activities since its birth, beginning with the tenure of military ruler Ziaur Rahman. Later, his wife Khaleda Zia and son Tarique Rahman committed brutal crimes in a bid to eliminate their political opposition by exploding grenades at a rally presided over by the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, in 2004. So, violence and killing are the characteristics of the BNP. The organization of butchers called Jamaat-e-Islami is with them.
If the BNP seriously wants a caretaker government, it can start a signature campaign and go for a referendum. There are many peaceful ways the BNP leadership can follow to justify their demand. They can prepare their election manifesto, adding this promise that they’ll reinstall the caretaker government system after forming the government. There’s no reason to demand a caretaker government now.
What is your expectation from the Awami League’s national council?
We believe that Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will again lead this glorious party with her vast experience through this upcoming council. We hope she will regroup the organization with experienced and new leaders as in the previous councils.
The Awami League is a party of mass people and grassroots workers. It has very strong units up to the ward level across the country. I hope the new leadership will strengthen the party up to the grassroots level.
We want to see the expansion of the party, not compression. We can expand our party among those who uphold the spirit of the Liberation War, and believe in the ideology of Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Sheikh Hasina’s leadership. The Awami League is not a party of business persons or cadres, but rather a party of activists and mass people. Our party will maintain this political character in the future too.
Why did some senior Awami League leaders criticize the remarks by foreign diplomats and their communication with some political leaders?
Right now, 90% of our national earnings come from domestic sources and only 10% from foreign sources. We take a tiny amount of foreign grants, which is not more than 2-3% now. This is why many foreign donation organizations have closed their offices in Bangladesh in recent years. Moreover, if some of our opposition friends still believe they can change the country’s political scene with the help of foreign embassies, I’ll say they are living in a fool’s world.
In the US market, Bangladesh is not getting duty-free facilities. We’re doing business with the US after paying fees and taxes. So, in a sense, we are contributing to the US economy too. We’ve excellent bilateral relations with foreign countries. We want friendly relations with respect, not master and slave. But some quarters in our country like to be enslaved…they’re continuously passing misinformation to our foreign friends. Naturally, when people listen to the same words from their surroundings over and over again, they tend to believe those and react on the basis of the misinformation.
Our police and RAB got training from western countries. Maybe their policy on terrorism has changed, but terrorism is still a concern for us. Sometimes, we observe that liberal forces and reactionary forces patch up together and create a hotchpotch. Believing in the rights of the LGBTQ and supporting reactionary forces, who are against LGBTQ, is a kind of hypocrisy. I want to ask some western diplomats who personally believe in LGBTQ: Do they feel good talking about it with the religiously biased and radical forces? We‘re observing this type of double standards policy in Bangladesh. The foreign diplomats will leave someday, but whether they will make us another Kabul is a serious matter of concern.
I think the people of our country know what is better for them. We want to do politics our way…we don’t need anyone’s interference in our domestic politics.
