BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday alleged that the government is making a blueprint to eliminate their party’s leadership.

‘They’re devising a blueprint to eliminate BNP leadership and keep our leader Khaleda Zia and her party away from the next general election,’ he said, reports the UNB.

Speaking at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office, the BNP leader also said the government is also constituting new courts and making a case into two — one for explosive and another for vandalism. ‘This means those who belong to opposition parties will have to die only by facing the cases filed against them.’

He alleged that the government has created a dangerous situation with its repressive acts to restore one-party rule and ensure the victory of the ruling party in the next polls by any means.

‘They know it very well that they won’t be able to win the next polls if it’s held in a free and fair manner. That’s why they’re resorting to such evil designs,’ the BNP leader said. 

Fakhrul said they want peace, not conflict and a peaceful environment so that people can freely go to the polling stations and cast their votes.

He accused the government of utterly repressing BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia by keeping her in an abandoned and worn out Dhaka central jail through convicting her in ‘false’ case. ‘We strongly condemn it.

The BNP leader said though their party has taken peaceful programme demanding the release of their chairperson from jail, the government is obstructing those. ‘They forced us to conclude our programme by 1pm which was scheduled to end at 4:00pm. They also arrested our many leaders and activists.’

He said the government is unwilling to give BNP any space as part of its ‘evil design’ to obliterate BNP away from politics.

The BNP leader alleged that despite being the professional and non-political bodies, the authorities of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) and the Jatiya Press Club are not allowing them to hold programmes at their auditoriums.

He urged the IEB and the press club authorities to refrain from showing such attitude to BNP. ‘Or else, it won’t bring anything good for anyone.’

Fakhrul said their party’s over 4,500 leaders and activists have been arrested over the last a few days.

He demanded the government release all the BNP leaders and activists from jail immediately.