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US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu is not so important to the BNP, a senior leader of the party has said.
“To us, the behaviour of the Chittagong Hill Tracts-based terrorist group Kuki-Chin [National Front] is more important than Donald Lu, because the government has failed to control the activities of this terrorist group,” said the party’s standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan in response to a question about Donald Lu, who is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday, during a press briefing at the party chairperson’s office in Dhaka’s Gulshan on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader told a press conference: “There is no situation where someone from outside will support and strengthen the BNP. Those who show power have seen their influence narrow in the Middle East.”
Emerging from a meeting with leaders of the BNP-led alliance at the BNP Chairperson's office , Mr Khan briefed the press.
As his attention was drawn to Donald Lu’s upcoming visit and Quader’s comment, he said, “It doesn’t matter whether he is hopeful or in despair. We would have said something if we considered him very important; but we didn’t. You have raised a question. To us, Donald Lu is not as important as the behaviour of Kuki-Chin, which the government is practically failing to control.”
He further said, “Donald Lu is a very distant figure. We are concerned about the situation in our own country. We are worried about the government’s failure to handle the bank robbers of our country. The people of Bangladesh have always solved their own problems. The mass uprising of 1969, the mass uprising of 1990 and the great war of independence—these all were achieved by us. We thank those who want to support the people's movement for justice. And if anyone opposes, we condemn them.”
Earlier in the meeting held with leaders of the BNP-led alliance, BNP standing committee member Selima Rahman and Vice Chairman Md Shahjahan were also present.