No army deployment, no polls: Khaleda

Leader of the Opposition and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Sunday laid down two preconditions for holding elections - keep electronic voting machines out and deploy the army - if the government seriously wants the outcome to be acceptable to the masses.

?Awami League cannot rig the polls if the army is around. Its other weapon for manipulating poll results is the EVM. That?s why it wants to keep the army out and press EVMs into service,? Khaleda said while addressing a roadside meeting at Jessore Eidgah Maidan.

She branded the EVM as a ?machine for vote rigging.?

Khaleda Zia also alleged that the government has left no stones unturned to turn Bangladesh into a province of India.

The former prime minister further alleged that the Awami League-led grand alliance government has failed to sign the Teesta water sharing deal with India due to lack of its bargaining capacity.

She said her party?s countrywide road-march campaign has already turned into a mass upsurge as the government has been identified as incompetent and subservient (to India).

Terming the cabinet worthless, Khaleda Zia said ministers are incapable and know nothing but how to extort money. ?There is no control within the government as well as in the cabinet,? she said.

Dwelling on the ?miserable? conditions of power and energy sectors, Khaleda said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could not ensure adequate supply of electricity but she could cut power from the people who do not like her.

?All the mills and factories of Bangladesh are being destroyed in a planned way so that in course of time those could be taken over by India. The government has made all arrangements to make Bangladesh a country subservient to India,? she said.

The opposition leader warned if the situation continues, the country?s independence and sovereignty will be at stake.

?We have to take decision whether we will be subjected to torture or launch movement against this repressive regime,? she added.

Khaleda said an ?oust-government campaign? will be launched after Victory Day and that has to be made successful with spontaneous participation of people from all walks of life.

Organised by the BNP-led four party alliance, the meeting was presided over by the party?s acting Jessore district unit president Shamsul Huda.

After the wayside meting in Jessore, Khaleda Zia went to the mazar of Khan Jahan Ali in Bagerhat, where she offered fateha.

The BNP chairperson said establishment of Rampal Power Plant will adversely affect the ecology and natural beauty of the Sundarbans, world?s largest mangrove forest.

?So a movement should be launched to stop installation of power plant in the Sundarbans. To save the Sundarbans, I am with you and the country?s environmentalists are also with you,? she said while addressing a public meeting held at Khulna Circuit House Maidan.

Khaleda Zia also demanded construction of an embankment in the Cyclone Aila-affected areas and rehabilitation of the affected people there. She asked the government to immediately address the water-logging problem in Satkhira district and end inhuman sufferings of people there.

The former prime minister said that she had written thrice to the Indian government to stop construction work of the Tipaimukh Dam, which will cause a catastrophic impact on the ecology of Bangladesh.

Khaleda said she asked the Indian government to conduct a joint technical survey first before going for implementation of the project.

?Raise your (the government?s) voice against the construction of Tipaimukh Dam. If you do not have the courage, please step down; the people will protest and do whatever necessary to halt it,? she said.

Citing the government?s corruption spree centring construction work of proposed Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Khaleda Zia said two bridges at separate points over the Padma River would be constructed if her party is voted to power.

One of the bridges will connect Daulatdia with Paturia ghat and the other one will be built at Mawa point of the river, she said.

Khaleda alleged the government has given its party leaders the licence to set up rental power plants to commit corruption in a free-style.

The BNP chairperson pledged that if her party is voted to power, it will revitalise the industrial units in Khulna region.

The meeting was presided over by Khulna BNP unit president Nazrul Islam Manju. Senior BNP leaders and also leaders of its alliance partners and like-minded parties spoke at the rally.

After the meeting, Khaleda Zia took rest at Circuit House before leaving Khulna for Dhaka.

Source: daily-sun.com

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Army kept out of NCC polls

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
A road in Kalibazar, Narayanganj, is awash with posters of different candidates. Campaigning for the maiden Narayanganj City Corporation election concluded at midnight ahead of polling on Sunday. syed zakir hosainElection Commission is yet to deploy army personnel in Narayanganj City Corporation elections much to the frustration of Awami League rebel candidate Dr Selina Hayat Ivy and BNP-backed Taimur Alam Khandkar.

Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamshul Huda has already said the commission failed to deploy the army due to non-cooperation from the government.

Meanwhile, the main opposition BNP at an emergency press briefing on Friday demanded resignation of the election commissioners for their failure to deploy army in the polls.

The party even hinted at withdrawal of its candidate from the polls race.

?The government is hatching a conspiracy to ensure victory for AL-backed candidate Shamim Osman through vote rigging,? Abdullah Al Noman, vice-chairmen of BNP told reporters at the party?s Naya Paltan headquarters.

?The government didn?t pay heed to our request,? the CEC told waiting journalists at his secretariat in the city after an emergency meeting on Friday evening.

Four companies of the army were supposed to be posted in the election areas for five days from 6:00am on Friday to midnight of 1 November, according to the commission?s earlier decision.

Former Narayanganj municipality mayor Dr Selina Hayat Ivy and opposition BNP-backed Taimur Alam Khandkar expressed their deep concern over non-deployment of the army and feared vote rigging and even direct manipulation of election results.

They feared that the army had not been deployed only to help ruling AL-backed AKM Shamim Osman win the electoral race.

The commission, in a letter, requested the government to deploy the army during the polls. ?As the government has not yet replied, it is clear that army would not be deployed,? said Huda.

In her reaction to the EC?s announcement, Dr Selina Hayat Ivy told reporters at his residence that the army had not been deployed to rig the election.

?It is high time the EC took stern measures to prove its neutrality,? she said reminding the EC about its earlier assurance that it will deploy the army.

In view of the situation, the CEC told the media that the commission has two options now ? it can either suspend the elections or take help from other law enforcing agencies to hold the voting.

He, however, said that the commission would have to hold the NCC elections within 180 days as per law and that is why there is no alternative to holding the elections in due time.

He said they requested the director general of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to deploy at least 100 Rab personnel to keep order during the elections.

?But we still do not know if we will get additional Rab personnel,? Huda added.

When asked if the government violated the constitution by ignoring the EC demand, the CEC said as per the constitution ?it does mean so?.

The commission is supposed to receive from the government all necessary cooperation inclusive of deployment of members of different law enforcing agencies to ensure free, fair and impartial elections, he said.

He, however, still hopeful that people of Narayanganj could exercise their franchise as still a congenial atmosphere is prevailing in the city ahead of the elections.

Asked whether she would contest the poll in absence of the army, Ivy said: ?People will act as my ?army?. I will not leave the battlefield.?

Sammolita Nagorik Parishad, a platform of common people formed to back Ivy a few days ago, urged the government to deploy the army in the polls.

At a press briefing held at Ivy?s residence parishad member and president of the AL town unit Anwar Hossain said that they believe EC will take necessary steps to deploy army. If it fails to do so its role will be questioned.

In the evening, Taimur told daily sun, ?The government scrapped the decision of the army deployment as it wants to hold the election as per the government blueprint. But I won?t quit.?

In a press release Taimur asked the voters not to pay heed to rumour that he pulled himself out of the race.

?No one, except death, can pull me out of the poll race,? he said.

Earlier, Taimur called on Returning Officer Biswas Lutfar Rahman at 12.30pm and expressed his concern over non-deployment of army. ?Without the army a fair election is impossible,? Taimur told journalists emerging out of the returning officer?s room.

Talking to daily sun many voters said they feared poll violence and vote rigging without deployment of the army.

Meanwhile, Narayanganj unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) brought out a procession from Number- 2 Railgate area demanding immediate resignation of the chief election commissioner following its decision not to deploy the army but law enforcers dispersed the procession.

Source: daily-sun.com

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No CG, BNP no polls, vows upbeat Khaleda

 Addressing a mammoth rally, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia gave a clarion call to partymen to head for Dhaka to join a ?mass upsurge? for unseating the Awami League government.

Without naming India, she alleged that the country?s economy as well as foreign and defence policies were being dictated by a neighbouring country.

?The government has failed to run the state in every sector. Its ouster is a must to make our mission a success. We have to move towards Dhaka for a mass upsurge,? Khaleda, also Leader of the Opposition, told a sea of humanity at Altafunnnesa ground in Bogra.

The BNP chief spoke at the rally for 40 minutes after the road march she led from Dhaka towards Rajshahi to put pressure on the government to restore the caretaker system for overseeing the next general election.

Khaleda also addressed three meetings at Kaliakoir (gazipur), Bhuapur (Tangail) and Hatikumrul (Sirajganj). Khaleda criticised the government for obstructing the road march.

Her supporters heard her with rapt attention as she lambasted the government of ruining the national economy and reducing the country to a market.

?The government is handing over the state to another country in a planned way. By doing so, its financial and industrial sectors are being destroyed while India is gaining,? she said.

Opposing transit facilities for India through Bangladeshi territory, the former prime minister remarked that the Farakka Barrage on the Padma River (Ganges in India) became operational on an experimental basis. ?But that experiment never comes to an end. So, we don?t want to give any permission for providing a corridor in the guise of transit.?

The BNP chairperson reiterated her demand for restoration of the caretaker government provision in the constitution, expressing her confidence in reverting to the system.

?There cannot be elections without the BNP and CG. The government has enough time. It should hold midterm polls as soon as possible under a caretaker government for the betterment of the country.? she said, ?otherwise people of the country will force the government to hand over power to us.?

Ruling out the possibility of holding elections under the Election Commission, she said the country?s intellectual and professionals had also extended their support to the caretaker government for the sake of free, fair and credible elections.

Khaleda warned that the government?s dream of holding the next general election only by ensuring participation of Awami League and Jatiya Party would be dashed.

?Awami League wants to elect Jatiya Party chairman Ershad as the opposition leader. But this dream will not come true. If Awami League wants to survive in politics, it has to take part in the elections definitely under a caretaker government system.?

She declared that the AL scrapped the caretaker government system fearing a debacle in the next election.

The opposition leader also alleged that the government had politicised the administration, dumped 480 officials by making them officers on special duty and rendered the administration teethless.

She asked the Prime Minister to cleanse the administration of corruption and said that if anyone is victimised, her party would ensure justice for them when it comes to power.

Khaleda alleged that the World Bank and IMF had suspended funding for the country?s development projects due to ?corruption spree? by the ruling party?s influential ones.

?From top to bottom of the government, all are engaged in corruption. Facts, figures and documents are there in the possession of the opposition. All corrupt people will be brought to book if BNP is voted back to power,? she said.

Dwelling on the situation in the capital market, Khaleda said top leaders of the ruling AL were directly involved in the share market manipulation.

?A so-called investigation team has been formed but identities of the real culprits and masterminds are yet to be disclosed.?

Khaleda questioned the fairness of the war crimes tribunal, saying that it had been formed with politicised persons and members of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee for staging a drama to destroy the BNP?s political alliance and a political party.

?Please stop such farcical trial and release the detained leaders including Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mojaheed and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.?

Describing BNP as pro-liberation force, the opposition leader said ruling party men were waiting outside the country during the liberation war while the nationalist forces were engaged in the frontline battle against the occupation forces.

?It is not Awami League but the BNP which is the party of freedom fighters,? said Khaleda, adding that Ziaur Rahman asked the countrymen to fight for its independence in 1971.

?I would like to make a similar call from Bogra to protect the country, its soil and people,? she said hinting at the impending anti-government movement.

The opposition leader alleged that the country?s judiciary is engaged in repressive activities instead of upholding the rights of people.

Khaleda mentioned that Bangladesh Rifled (BDR), which is now renamed as Bangladesh Border Guards, has been destroyed to make the country?s bordering areas insecure.

?Narcotics items are being smuggled into the country through the border to destroy the country?s young generation. Hasina wants to meet her evil desire to keep the youth generation asleep,? she said blaming the government increasing drug addiction.

When Khaleda reached Bogra meeting venue, thousands of supporters chanted slogans welcoming her, her son and the party?s senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman and demanding the exit of the AL government.

Hundreds of arches were set up in the streets welcoming the road-march and people of all walks of life stood way-side of the motorcade with colourful banners, placards and portraits of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.

BNP leaders, supporters and activists of the party gathered in the meeting place with sheaves of paddy (the party?s symbol).

Asking the government to stop repression, she demanded the release of opposition leaders immediately.

Khaleda announced the road-march programmes from a public meeting on September 27 demanding the restoration of caretaker government system.

Khaleda, on her way to Northern region of the country, addressed a number of wayside meetings and said her party would call for ?final action? at the end of the road marches to Rajshahi, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Rangpur.

Khaleda started from her Gulshan residence around 10:20am and it took nearly ten minutes to reach Uttara from where her cross country caravan set out officially.

Source: daily-sun.com

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