Dhaka, March 19 (IANS) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Wednesday claimed that some sections are trying hard to make sure that the party meet the same fate as Awami League, local media reported.
Khaleda Zia’s BNP emerged as the largest political party in Bangladesh after the fall of the arch-rival Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
“Efforts are underway to ensure that the BNP has the same fate as Awami League. Just notice — they do not write anything good about the BNP. They only highlight the negative — accusing BNP of extortion in one place, but not writing about what Jamaat-e-Islami has done elsewhere,” BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas was quoted as saying at an iftar event in Dhaka.
Earlier this month while addressing reporters in Dhaka, Abbas had expressed his frustration, saying that certain parties were not being covered by the media, with attention only being focused on BNP, often with “exaggerated and inflated” reports. Without naming any specific party, he accused the media of hiding facts by not writing about them, reported leading Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star.
“No journalist or newspaper is writing anything about a particular party. You are writing nothing about them. You only write about BNP, inflating and exaggerating it as much as you can. There is much more happening behind the scenes, but you write nothing about it,” Dhaka Tribune reported Abbas, as saying.
Addressing a conference last month, BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman accused the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of causing instability in Bangladesh.
“For some time now, we have been observing with concern that some officials within the government are making conflicting remarks regarding the restoration of people’s rights. As a result, unrest has spread across different regions,” he stated
Last week, the BNP also expressed doubts about the possibility of national parliamentary elections being held in December. The party’s senior leaders believe that a “conspiracy” is underway to delay the polls, allegedly from within the interim government.
The much-flaunted unity of various political outfits in Bangladesh, which was on full display during the ousting of the democratically-elected Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, seems to be fading gradually.
With the country plunging into a major crisis over the last seven months, several political leaders who had earlier backed Yunus are now criticising him openly. The BNP has alleged being the victim of “conspiracy” and “media trial” within the country.
–IANS
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