BNP on Thursday alleged that the government is putting some ‘small fry’ behind bars in its current drive against casinos and corrupts to remove its smell of corruption and hide the failures to run the country.

“The government has turned the entire country into a den of gambling and casinos. It’s now catching some small fry to eliminate its smell of corruption and hush up its failures, but it won’t work,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

He came up with the remarks while speaking at a public rally arranged by local BNP at Krishnachura Chattar beside Mymensingh Railway Station demanding the release of party chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail. Reports UNB.

The BNP leader said it is not so easy to restore people’s confidence as the government has lost it through deceiving people and breaking its promises.

“Before the 2008 election, you (govt) had made many promises, but you didn’t live up to none of those. You’ve deceived people. You had pledged to create a state system where people’s security and human rights would be ensured and people would be able to cast their votes as per their choice. But now they can’t exercise their voting rights as police are casting their votes,” he alleged.

Fakhrul said the government has committed a big offence by ‘indulging’ in ‘vote robbery’ in the last general election, depriving people of their rights.

He also accused the ruling party leaders of siphoning off huge money abroad by plundering banks and public money from different projects. “The prices of all commodities have gone beyond people’s purchasing capacity. Farmers are not getting the fair prices of their produces while small traders are struggling to survive, but the ruling party men are siphoning off money abroad.”

The BNP leader said those who have been arrested so far for running casino business and plundering money from mega projects belong to the ruling party.

Stating that police are working to protect the ruling party, he urged the law enforcers to stand by people and take position in favor of them. “It’s your (police’s) responsibility to resist those who are looting national wealth and resources, snatching people’s rights and forming parliament without people’s votes.”

Fakhrul criticized the government for what he said adopting a serious ‘repressive’ policy to subdue its opponents. “Our leaders and activists are being picked up, tortured, killed and maimed by shooting in their legs. Even after such repression, no one has left the party. This’s the strength of BNP.”

Claiming that their party has been on a movement to only go to power, he said their only main goal is to restore democracy and people’s rights.

The BNP leader demanded the government hold a fresh election under a neutral administration and the Election Commission by annulling the current parliament to end the ‘misrule’ and establish a pro-people administration.

BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the current government is working in favor of plunders and gamblers, not people.

He alleged that the economy has collapsed while banks have gone bankrupt due to the ‘misrule’ and ‘plundering’ by the government. “The national exchequer has got depleted due to widespread looting by the ruling party leaders and activists.”

BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, vice chairman AZM Zahid Hossain, joint secretaries general Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and Khairul Kabir Khokon, among others, spoke at the rally held with Mymensingh south unit acting president AKM Shafiqul Islam in the chair.

AH