AL should not be allowed to contest polls

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman yesterday said the Awami League should not be allowed to participate in the upcoming elections as it does not believe in such democratic practices.

Addressing a conference organised by the Natore district Jamaat at Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula Government College ground in the afternoon, Shafiqur said elections are for those who respect and love the country and its people.

“Polls are not meant for the people who do not believe these. They wreaked havoc on the country while in power illegally through three [staged] elections. How can those, who do not believe in elections, expect to take part in polls?”

Shafiqur urged the interim government to hold a fair election after carrying out urgent reforms, reports UNB.

“In this election, the people will choose whom they love, whom they can trust,” he said.

Saying the AL smuggled Tk 26 lakh crore out of the country in their 15-and-a-half-year rule, the Jamaat ameer said the people of the country will reject the party.

The Jamaat leader further said that political leaders who have held power since the country’s independence have betrayed the people’s trust to varying degrees.

However, this oppression crossed all limits in the last 15 years, he said.

Shafiqur said Jamaat wants foreign friends, not masters, reports BSS. Bangladesh was not freed from Pakistani rule to become subordinate to others, he said.

Referring to the high prices of essentials, he claimed that the Awami syndicate is still active in the market. And new syndicate has also wiggled in its place there.

Urging the government to keep the prices of essentials under control, Shafiqur said, “We don’t want to see any syndicates — old or new. We want to help the government destroy the syndicates with all our powers.”

He also promised to stand by the victims of the July-August uprising and demanded visible initiatives from the government in this regard.

Natore district Jamaat Ameer Mir Nurul Islam presided over the meeting, where leaders from various levels, including the party’s central Assistant Secretary General Rafiqul Islam Khan, spoke.