Launch stir like the one in Bangkok to oust Hasina, Zia told
By IANSTuesday, May 18, 2010
DHAKA - A section of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) wants to “replicate red shirts” of Thailand by launching a similar movement against the Sheikh Hasina government, a media report said Tuesday.
Senior party leaders pressed party chief Begum Khaleda Zia for an all-out campaign against the Hasina government. Zia is scheduled to announce an agitation programme against the government Wednesday.
At a meeting with Zia Sunday night, the leaders sought “a tough anti-government movement like the one rocking the Thai capital Bangkok”, The Daily Star newspaper said.
They preferred “a Bangkok style movement, where the opposition and the army are engaged in street fights”.
In Bangkok, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) began its protest March 12 and since then at least 45 people have died in clashes and attacks, and more than 1,000 have been injured.
“We can turn Dhaka into Bangkok if we want,” a member of the standing committee was quoted as telling Zia.
However, the hard liners’ suggestion was strongly opposed by some colleagues including the party’s Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain, former minister Moudud Ahmed, and former army chief, Lt. Gen. (retd) Mahbubur Rahman.
The media report said opponents of the “red shirt” idea told Zia that destructive programmes like strikes and putting up blockades should not be announced now “as the party is not prepared for such a movement”.
During the three-hour meeting of the party’s national standing committee, the group favouring more peaceful options warned Zia of the “negative implications of a radical anti-government movement” as it will “give BNP a bad name internationally”.
Some other BNP leaders told The Daily Star that given the party’s present situation, it will opt for programmes that have chances of involving the people, instead of imposing an anti-government movement on them.
Standing Committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy said: “We will be the loser if our movement fails to draw public support. It will boomerang, if we want to impose a movement on the people.”
