Fakhrul burst into laughter on Quader’s ‘pressure of conscience’

Following a meeting with US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas in Dhaka on Thursday, Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said he didn’t feel the foreign pressure, rather he felt ‘pressure of conscience.’

“Why should we feel pressure? It is our commitment to hold free, fair elections. If you talk about pressure, then it’s pressure from our own conscience,” Quader said at a press briefing after holding a meeting with US ambassador Peter Haas at Awami League central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka.

Responding to Obaidul Quader’s remarks, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said the government has started counting its days. Panic has spread through their remarks.

Speaking at a protest rally in front of BNP central office at Naya Paltan in the capital, Fakhrul had burst into laughter saying that Obaidul Quader on Thursday said he felt the ‘pressure of consceince.’

“They (government) have a conscience, and they feel pressure of it,” said Fakhrul with laughter. “They have no similarties in words and deeds.”

The protest rally was oragnised as part of the countrywide programme protesting the punishment of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman.

Protesting the punishment against Tarique Rahman, Mirza Fakhrul said, “This government has clinged to power using police administration and judiciary. He (Tarique Rahman) has been given punishment in a false case under whose leadership we have been struggling to free the country from an autocrat.”

Mirza Fakhrul further said BNP doesn’t have any headache what the United States, the United Kingdom or India are saying. “We need to know what our people are saying. Our people have already clearly stated that you (government) have not enough time, you must have to leave power.”

Cautioning the government, the BNP leader said the government has been making various caricatures to cling to power in illegal way. “You will be able to yield anything else through caricatures. This government’s time is over. You had to think twice before punishing Tarique Rahman that people of Bangladesh will also not spare you. You will not be able to silence the ongoing struggle through punishing us, taking us to jail through wholesale arrest and suing under false cases. We have taken to the street. We have been struggling to realise our rights through peaceful movement. People have awaken up from Teknaf to Tentulia. They want the fall of this government at any cost.”

The rally was also addressed by BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and many more. Dhaka City North BNP convener Amanullah Aman presided over the rally.