BNP is a fragile, dependent political party: Quader

General Secretary of Awami League Obaidul Quader Wednesday said the BNP is a political party, which is brittle and dependent on others. He came up with the remark while speaking at a press conference at his secretariat office here. Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said the BNP went to foreigners and foreign missions, not to the country’s people, but to assume power.  

“Foreigners will not bring them (BNP) in power. The people of this country can bring them in power,” he said.  Quader said the BNP has admitted that it hired lobbyists abroad against the country and now the party is saying that a Bangladesh expatiate has been working for it. “Who is this Bangladesh expatiate? Why are not you (BNP leaders) revealing his or her identity?” he questioned. 

The AL general secretary said the BNP leaders mentioned that they had moral support for such activities and they expressed solidarity with those. "People know the real identity of BNP...they (people) will not be confused at all," he added. About the BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's letters sent to development partners, Quader said: "In their words, the letters were sent to them to restore human rights and democracy. At least, they admitted writing the letters." 

The BNP leaders frequently talk about sovereignty and democracy, he said, questioning, "Can calling upon the foreigners to establish democracy be the work of a political party in an independent state?"  The minister said those, who killed people through patrol bombs, carried out steamrollers of torture on minorities, involved in looting and irregularities in the name 'Hawa Bhaban', are now talking about human rights, which makes people laughed.

Being failure in movement and elections, the BNP wants now the intervention of foreigners to come to power again, he said. "This is only possible for a boneless political party like the BNP," he added. Responding to different allegations of the BNP leaders over democracy, Quader said they do not see the Bangladesh's transition in the world economy.

When Bangladesh is called a role model of development and achievement, the BNP does not realise it, he said, adding that the party wants this country to become a troublesome and bloody state. Mentioning that Bangladesh would move forward at an indomitable pace under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the AL general secretary said the country will never go back to that dark regime of BNP.

He said the BNP not only hired lobbyist firms abroad spending millions of dollars, but also hatched an intrigue to hire the FBI to kidnap Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Information and Technology Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Quader said the plot to 'physically harm' Sajib Wazed Joy, the son of the prime minister and grandson of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was proved against Rizvi Ahmed Caesar, a BNP activist living in the United States.  

During the trial, he said, Caesar told the court that he in collusion with his ally Johannes Thaler bribed an FBI special agent to gather information aiming to abduct Sajeeb Wazed Joy and his family members. Caesar also told the court that he had received a proposal of Taka 4.5 crore from the BNP's high command for this work and this was recorded in the US court documents, Quader said, adding that this issue was published in various international news outlets.