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Fair polls under non-party admin only solution

Fakhrul tells Thakurgaon rally; terms 10th parliament a 'circus tent'

Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon
Accusing Awami League of stripping the people of voting rights, BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said the current political crisis would not end until a free, fair and credible election was held under a non-party administration.
He said it had been proved at home and abroad that free and fair elections under Sheikh Hasina’s government were not possible. Quoting foreigners, he said AL won the so-called election but Bangladesh lost through the 10th parliamentary polls.
As part of a daylong visit to villages hit by election violence in Thakurgaon sadar upazila, his constituency, Fakhrul was addressing a rally at Dholarhat Eidgah Ground.
In a scathing attack, he said the governing party had transformed the parliament into a "circus tent" where Hasina and Jatiya Party’s HM Ershad, Rawshan Ershad, and Anisul Islam Mahmud and the others were playing "clowns".
The BNP leader said the January 5 vote was a mockery of election organised through a "hodgepodge" amendment to the constitution to Awami League's advantage. He claimed that only 3-5 percent votes were cast in that poll joined by 12 out of 41 political parties.
The Election Commission, however, puts the turnout rate at around 40 percent in the election boycotted by BNP and allies in protest against a partisan administration overseeing it.
A vexed Fakhrul also took a swipe at Ershad who revised his position in quick successions over joining the January 5 vote.
Ershad had said if his party took part, people would spit on him, but
deceiving the people, he joined the election and has earned the name "Thutu Baba", he said.
Fakhrul urged the government to hold a free, fair and credible election under a non-party administration to restore people's voting rights. About the recent attacks on houses and businesses in the villages of Thakurgaon sadar upazila, he said BNP and its allies did not nourish a communal spirit. “Rather it's Awami League that is a communal-terrorist party, cashing in on communalism," he said.
He also accused Awami League of creating division between Hindus and Muslims.
In his speech, Fakhrul also called upon the local administration and police not to harass his party activists and dismiss false cases against them.
Secretary General of the district unit BNP Toimur Rahman, Vice
President Mirza Foisal Amin, and General Secretary of the sadar upazila Abdul Hamid were present among others, while Dholarhat Union unit President Abdul Jabbar was in the chair.
Following the gathering, Fakhrul visited affected shops at Nimbari Bazar village and addressed other two opinion sharing meetings with party men at Laxmipur and Dehan villages of the upazila. He left for Dhaka on an afternoon flight.
Spurring the people and party activists to continue the antigovernment movement for restoring democracy and reclaiming people's voting rights, Fakhrul said BNP did not lose in the antielection movement, as 95 percent of voters refrained from casting ballots. "Awami League is the one that has suffered a moral defeat," he said.