The BNP-led alliance holds a rally at Naya Paltan in Dhaka on Sunday to protest against the increase in railway fares and moves to amend the Companies Act. — New Age photo The BNP-led alliance holds a rally at Naya Paltan in Dhaka on Sunday to protest against the increase in railway fares and moves to amend the Companies Act. — New Age photo

The acting secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, on Sunday accused the government of indulging in propaganda over party chief Khaleda Zia’s successful tours of India and China to confuse the people.
Fakhrul came down heavily on the Awami League’s general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, for his call to Khaleda to keep the promises she had made during her India tour.
‘How could he know what Khaleda Zia had said in India? Actually the government is out to divert public attention and indulge in evil propaganda over Khaleda’s successful tours of India and China, and so is coming up with concocted stories,’ he told a rally of the BNP-led alliance in front of the party’s central office at Naya Paltan.
Ashraf on Saturday, while placing wreaths on the graves of the four leaders, including Tajuddin, who were killed in jail, said they knew what the BNP chairperson had promised to India during her visit and would let the people know through the press.
Fakhrul said, ‘Khaleda has already stated that she discussed the issues of the wanton killings along the border, sharing of the waters of common rivers and allowing India transit, and the Indian leaders told her all the problems would be solved through discussion. But they [AL leaders] are spreading various stories to confuse the people.’
He said Ashraf should know that the BNP loves Bangladesh and its people and Khaleda went to India to discuss the unresolved issues between the two countries and held meetings with the Indian president, prime minister and opposition leader to develop cordial relations between the two countries.
Fakhrul said the success of the tour indicates the possibilities of proper solution of the problems and it has made the government paranoid. ‘So they started making illogical statements to confuse the people.’
The BNP leader also rejected rumours of any differences of opinion within the BNP-led alliance. ‘There is no problem among the 18 parties. Rather our unity has been strengthened and it will last till the fall of this government,’ he said.
Fakhrul iterated the alliance’s demand for restoring the provision of the election-time caretaker government system and asked the government to leave office and hand over power to a caretaker government for holding fair elections.
Fakhrul said the government failed to meet a single demand of the people, remaining busy in corruption and plundering. ‘They have doubled the train fare but nothing has changed. Suranjit plundered lakhs of takas when he was railway minister. He has been replaced by a new one but the trend is continuing,’ he said.
Fakhrul accused the government of ruining the entire economy and plotting to amend the Company Act for creating the scope for making the country a haven of corruption in the style of their first regime in 1972-1975.
He also questioned the rejoining of prime minister’s adviser Mashiur Rahman who was sent on leave at the World Bank’s insistence. ‘He was sent on leave to appease the World Bank. He was again sent on leave after attending office for a day. They just want to confuse people but such attempts will yield nothing. People have been apprised of their corruption and they will not accept any dirty tricks,’ he said.
BNP’s standing committee members Nazrul Islam Khan and Mirza Abbas and Jamaat-e-Islami’s assistant secretary general Mia Ghulam Parwar also spoke at the rally presided over by BNP Dhaka city unit’s convener Sadeque Hossain Khoka.