Not BNP, people will decide to dethrone govt: Mirza Abbas

It is not BNP; people will take the decision to dethrone the government, said Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) standing committee member Mirza Abbas on Saturday.

"We (BNP) don't see the government as it was formed without elections (according to BNP's view)," said Mirza Abbas while addressing a rally in front of the National Press Club demanding immediate release of detained party leaders including its chairperson Khaleda Zia.

"BNP doesn't bear the responsibility to oust the government or not. When people think they will dethrone the government and then they (the government) will not be able to remain in power," he commented.

He made the comments following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's recent remarks on BNP's unseating the government.

He said that the country is now passing through a crisis that the entire world knows.

He also said that the conditions of BNP leaders and activists were worst due to the government's continuous suppression on them.

"Every day 50 to 100 relatives visit me and narrate the ordeals their sons, husbands, brothers or fathers are facing remaining in an abject condition in jail," said Mirza Abbas.

BNP founder and former President Ziaur Rahman participated in the War of Liberation and it is irony of fate that his wife Khaleda Zia who struggled a lot for democracy is now fighting against multiple diseases as she could not go abroad for treatment for the denial of permission from the government, he added.

"We (BNP) have requested the government several times to allow Begum Khaleda Zia to go abroad for treatment but the government turned down the appeal saying that the existing laws don't permit her departure for abroad for medical check-up," he said.

"Her condition is not well and we are not certain what will happen to her after some days. Government says that there are no legal provisions to allow her to go abroad for treatment. Are laws for the people, or the people for the laws,?" he questioned.

He cited examples of receiving treatment abroad by political leaders Rashed Khan Menon and ASM Abdur Rab following government orders.

He said that no government in the world sustained by arresting opponents and this present Awami League regime would also not be able to sustain in power by making arrest and suppressing the opponents' movement.

He also said that BNP has taken a wise decision not to participate in the upcoming upazila elections as people could not cast their votes upon their own choices.

Habibur Rashed Habib Mukti Parishad organised the event that demanded withdrawal of the false cases filed against acting chairperson of BNP Tarique Rahman and immediate release of Habibur Rashed Habib, former general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal.

President of Habibur Rashed Habib Mukti Parisgad AA Jahir Uddin Tuhin presided over the event which was also addressed by senior joint secretary general of BNP Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, member secretary of Dhaka south BNP Rafiqul Alam Maju and general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal Abdul Monaem.

Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said on Saturday that the opposition political parties were not hatching conspiracy to unseat the government rather they are united for their ongoing anti-government movement.

"Leftists and rightists (politicians) are saying that this government is not elected by the people. They are holding power through farcical election," he told the media after offering a munajat at BNP founder and former President Ziaur Rahman's grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital.

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"The government fears the people because they have participated in the struggles of the country's independence and democracy. They will again be united against any autocrat in the country," he warned.

"BNP's ongoing anti-government movement is not to get back power but to change the power structure. So BNP is on the roads and will remain on the roads to fulfill that target," he continued.

"The present Awami League government is trying to erase the name of Ziaur Rahman from the minds of the new new generation people. But their evil attempts will not be successful," he asserted.

He said that former President Ziaur Rahman had introduced Bangladeshi nationalism for all irrespective of cast, creed and religion.

Earlier Jatiyatabadi Olama Dal new convening committee members placed a wreath on Ziaur Rahman's grave and offered a special munajat there.