BNP standing committee member and former minister Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan said that the government wanted to incite a peaceful orderly movement to divert it into riotous ways and impose its responsibility on the opposition. That was the plot they were doing. He alleged that the government has revealed its autocratic character by jailing the top leaders of the opposition party before identifying the culprits.
Taking the example of France, this senior leader of BNP raised the question, more than 600 cars were set on fire in one day during the protest against the President of France and did the government jail the top leaders of the opposition party before determining the culprits? Did the millions of people protesting in Paris identify everyone as a terrorist? Referring to BNP's ongoing movement-program of efforts to restore democracy, he said, BNP's struggle today is a struggle to re-establish the democratic rights of the people, not a struggle to come to power.
Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan said these things in an exclusive interview given to Barta24.com. Planning Editor Ashraful Islam talked with the senior BNP leader.
Barta24.com: The ruling party is trying to say that on November 5 (Sunday) 18 buses were set on fire. Who will actually take this responsibility? Some of the arrested Chhatra Dal activists have confessed the arson...
Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan : If the question is actually asked to the government, it would be reasonable why the government is not responsible for maintaining law and order in the country. To be honest, today the government is caught in its own trap. For the past one year, we had been holding meetings in the divisional cities. Then we held meetings in the district and upazila, and then marched in one day in about 6 thousand unions of Bangladesh, which is a new addition in the recent history of politics in the region. Millions of people have been involved in these programs. Can the government show an example where law and order have been broken for a second? For the past one year, the government has repeatedly provoked. That was their plan. They wanted to divert a peaceful orderly movement into riotous ways by incitement, and then put the blame on the opposition party. Finally, that situation was created by the government itself on October 28 (2023).
The interesting thing is that the government's plans have already been exposed thanks to social media. They did not understand how news was spread from one place to another 5/10 years ago... But today technology has changed drastically. The government tried not only to befool the people of the country but also the people of the world. But in 2023, that earlier trick didn't work anymore. His evidence is the statement of the United Nations Secretary General, the statement of the High Representative of the European Union's Department of Foreign Affairs, and the statement of almost all the states of the democratic developed world, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Evidence is the statement of Amnesty International. The proof is the statement of Human Rights Watch and the statement of 8 human rights organizations of the world. All the government's misdeeds have been exposed today; BNP did not need to say anything. The tapes of conversations that the government itself exchanged on Walkie Talkie have been made public by the power of technology. Today they themselves conspired and brought Awami terrorists from Gazipur and created terror in front of the Chief Justice's house and false-fictitious-fabricated disappearance cases were given involving top leaders of BNP in that terror, their secrets have been exposed not only to the people of Bangladesh but to the whole world. It was exposed to the goodness of technology.
Where will the government put this shame? Telling those stories today will not be profitable, it is not profitable. Because the statements mentioned above are from inside and outside the country. Another thing to mention, we saw in Paris a few days ago, more than 600 cars were set on fire/vandalized in one day during protests against the French President. Did the government jail the top leaders of the opposition before determining the culprits? Or were the hundreds of thousands of protesting Parisians all blamed as "terrorists" by the French President on account of that particular incident? What the government is talking about today is just nonsense. It is a shame to think that the politics of Bangladesh has fallen to such a level that the government has imprisoned even a hero of the liberation war with a false case to protect its power, where will we put this shame of the nation?
Barta24.com: Many intellectuals from the civil society are also raising these questions, they said - BNP is not so concerned about the rise in commodity prices or other civil woes, as they are eager to come to power...
Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan: The answer to this question is actually very simple. Easy because we have not only verbalized the problem but also documented it. If you notice the one point that we have given today, you will see that it is actually four in one. If you read in detail, you will see that everything you mentioned including the price of the product is covered in this one step. I think there is no need to explain this further. You have seen not only the increase in commodity prices for the past one year, but also the extreme corruption of this government, mega corruption in the name of mega projects, billions of dollars being smuggled abroad, banks looting their factories...where the expenditure of thousands of crores of money is increased to two thousand three thousand in various projects. The effort to make a thousand crore taka..200 or 500 taka pillow is 10 thousand, thousand taka screens are supposed to be bought at taka 83 thousand but we have been telling people for the past one year. The question you have asked about some of the so-called intellectuals in Bangladesh today, I do not want to disrespect anyone, rather I want to assure you that the struggle of BNP today is not the struggle to come to power. BNP has clearly stated in writing and reiterated time and again that we believe, there can be no fair and impartial elections under this government. We have demanded the resignation of the government. A government should come here who will reconstitute a fair and impartial Election Commission and form a government by true representatives of the people of this country through a participatory and impartial election. Whether it is BNP's or Awami League's or any other intellectuals (but whoever is actually determined), it is not a concern of BNP. Time and again we have made it clear in our words.
May I ask, if Awami League has floated the country on the tide of development, then billions of voters of Bangladesh, they are supposed to vote for Awami League? Why is the Awami League trembling? Why are they afraid to give fair elections, this is the question I want to reverse. The government actually knows, no matter what they say in their mouths, they have realized in their hearts that the mountain of their 15 years of misrule is standing so high today, as a result of which billions of people in Bangladesh have already rejected them morally. That is why they are afraid to come for fair and impartial elections this time. We want to make it clear that we do not want to see a bogus unrepresentative parliament like the parliament that just ended. It is of no concern to us whether a Parliament made up of genuine people's representatives and a government made up of them takes charge of running the country, whether they come from the BNP or the Awami League.
Barta24.com: Allegation of the ruling party, BNP is basically a party controlled by foreign forces; the party has no relation with the people. How would you describe the…
Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan: The point here is, BNP does not only maintain relations with foreign powers,... If I ask the opposite question, why did the government brief the internal political affairs of the country by inviting the officials of the diplomatic mission appointed in Dhaka only after October 28 (2023)? BNP or Awami League did this meeting on October 30? The reality of today's world is that no country in the world is an isolated island. The world has developed in such a way that international relations are very important. There are many aspects of technology in this. If something important happens in a remote part of today's world, it spreads all over the world in an instant. Not only does the news spread, but the reaction to the news also spreads. So today it should be understood that the disgraceful incident which the government has done on the BNP convention on October 28 has spread like fire in the world. Even then, if someone says that BNP gives dharna to foreigners, it would be a lie.
One more thing to say, the world has become a global village today. It's not just about environmental issues, but politically, diplomatically as well...geopolitics has become a very important issue in today's world. If democracy is disturbed in Bangladesh today, billions of people of Bangladesh come to the streets, but even the most powerful government sitting in Washington in America is worried because their interests are also involved with it. BNP is not a factor here. I can add to this, when democracy is disrupted in Bangladesh, when a government of Bangladesh falls into various problems, as a result of which there may be problems in other countries of the world due to diplomatic reasons, then the heads of state of that country and their governments also get worried. I don't want to name any country. I would like to give another realistic example - if Bangladesh becomes unstable for any reason, the way politics is going today due to the government's behavior since October 28 (2023), the way the politics of Bangladesh is moving, as a result of this, the stability of Bangladesh will be destroyed, if the garment industry of Bangladesh will be disrupted. If so, it is no longer an internal matter of Bangladesh. It becomes a matter of concern for the entire world. If Bangladesh's democracy-good governance-human rights are violated, it is not only a matter of concern for the people inside Bangladesh, but it becomes a universal issue for the whole world. BNP is a political party that believes in that universal ideal.
Barta24.com: Although the western world is worried about the human rights or democracy of Bangladesh, in fact, they have actually taken such a role because of their geopolitical interests; such an assessment has emerged in the articles of the international media. How do you see-
Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan: This is a very relevant question. But I don't know whether it is the assessment of the international world or not, but of any country. The reality is that every country in the world has its own interests to protect. There is no way to call it absurd. If the US wants to protect its interests in the Indo-Pacific, it will. Earlier I said, if our friendly countries want to protect their interests, they have been doing it for the past 15 years. If our more distant friends the Chinese want to preserve their interests in this country with BRI, they will surely do so, but the point is, if the fundamental rights of the people of Bangladesh are disturbed in the conflict of three interests, then we all have the right to speak there.