Shawdesh Desk:

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Sunday said that BNP was trying to obstruct the process of holding fair elections by creating an unstable situation in the country.

‘BNP has repeatedly caused damage to Bangladesh, while prime minister Sheikh Hasina is repairing those. Today, by creating instability in the country, they (BNP) want to impede the process of holding fair elections,’ he told a joint meeting at the AL’s Bangabandhu Avenue central office in Dhaka in the afternoon.

The joint meeting was held among the secretaries of the party and the presidents and general secretaries of Dhaka north and north city units of the AL and its affiliated bodies.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said that BNP activists created chaos in various places of the country, including Keraniganj and Khagrachari and staged drama to put its responsibility on the ruling Awami League.

‘Through all these, they are giving wrong message. But I will ask the AL leaders and activists to deal with the situation calmly. We will not do anything in advance. But, if any attack on AL men takes place, they (BNP) will not be spared,’ he warned.

The AL general secretary said that no sanction would stop the elections and the government had no headache about sanctions.

‘Foreigners are our friends, not masters. The BNP is involved in ill politics. If the ruling Awami League remains united, BNP will be defeated,’ he added.

He said that as the country’s Constitution did not allow the caretaker government system, the BNP would be affected by the US visa policy if it demanded restoration of this system.

‘Now it is a matter to see what the US’s position will be about those who will impede the process of free and fair elections. The Awami League wants free and fair elections, but BNP is hatching plots to disrupt the elections,’ Quader said.

Claiming that BNP traditionally practices ill politics and that is why the country is safe under its reign, he said that all should pledge to resist the BNP, a patron of extremists and communal forces.

‘Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has made the Election Commission independent. We are in the process of holding fair elections but BNP is obstructing it. BNP is walking in the opposite direction of organising fair elections. So, they are under pressure due to the US visa policy,’ the road transport minister said.

Noting that the country is moving forward under the leadership of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, he said that the story of Bangladesh’s progress had been lauded all over the world.

‘The British prime minister said that he and his family follow Sheikh Hasina and she is an inspiration to them,’ Quader added.

AL joint general secretaries AFM Bahauddin Nasim and Dipu Moni, organising secretaries BM Mozammel Haque, SM Kamal Hossain, Mirza Azam and Sujit Roy Nandi, publicity and publication secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap, cultural affairs secretary Ashim Kumar Ukil, science and technology affairs secretary Abdus Sabur, deputy publicity secretary Syed Abdul Awal Shamim, Dhaka north city AL president Sheikh Bazlur Rahman and Dhaka south city AL president Abu Ahmed Mannafi were, among others, present at the meeting.