Mohammad Ali Arafat, former State Minister for Information, has slammed BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as he claimed that business tycoon S Alam Group gave the Awami League Tk25 billion for hatching a conspiracy to foil the elections.
โSuch an allegation is entirely baseless. Besides, what election is Mr. Alamgir referring to? Is it the one-sided, prearranged, and rigged election in which his party dreams of a landslide victory by depriving the people of their voting rights? His claim is absolutely unfounded,โ Arafat said in a post on X on Wednesday.
โThe Awami League is not attempting to foil the election; rather, it is working to ensure a free, fair, and inclusive processโsomething desired by both the people of the country and the international community.โ
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Arafat said that in a truly inclusive election, where all parties are guaranteed a level playing field, the Awami League is confident of winning once again. โWhy would we seek to obstruct an election that would return us to government through the peopleโs mandate?
โIt is, in fact, Mr. Alamgir and his party are trying to deprive voters of their democratic rights and seize power by conspiring to hold a rigged election that excludes the Awami League, the Jatiya Party, and the 14-Party Alliance.โ
Recently, Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina demanded the resignation of the interim governmentโs chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, while blaming him for mob attacks, illegal occupation and persecuting the party members in false and fictitious cases, plundering public money and rehabilitating the jihadists and anti-liberation elements.
She also gave a 21-point charter for demands and vowed to bring the criminals to justice once her party returns to power.
Mohammad Ali Arafat, former State Minister for Information, has said that if there is any need for remorse or apology, the Bangladesh Awami League will address it directly with the people of Bangladesh.
The party says such considerations will only come when normal political activities can resume.
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Meanwhile, in an interview with Berlin-based DW, Arafat said: โThe Awami League is the peopleโs party, the party that led the Liberation War. It will always return to the people. Whatever apologies or regrets we have will be addressed to the people.
โA group of NGO-backed individuals has taken power by force. If the Awami League apologises or seeks forgiveness, it will be to the people of Bangladesh.โ
He lamented that the criminals who committed murders over the past year did not show any remorse. โAnd for the killings during the August 5 period, we have called for justice for all murders. We formed an independent judicial commission. Those who now demand apologies from us are the same people who granted impunity to a group of killers.
โThose who give killers impunity, those who carried out mob terror, those who went door-to-door killing peopleโwho will answer for that?โ
Responding to a question about public support, he said: โYou will have your answer in a few days. Militants, war criminals, and communal forces were brought together. Imperial powers poured in money; everything was meticulously designed. Bodies piled up one after another. Peopleโs minds were poisoned; anger was stoked. Now, a year later, the majority of the nation has realised they were betrayed.โ
Arafat said: โThe Awami League did not want more deaths, so it stepped down from power. If it had wanted, it could have stayed in power through killings. But Awami League is the party of the peopleโit did not want that.โ
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