- Failure of three national elections during Mirza Fakhrul's time
- No movement for release of Khaleda Zia
- Not being arrested on street, "arrested at home" a mystery
- Council will end option of Secretary General, say policymakers
Staff Reporter
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. He was the Acting General Secretary of BNP for five years. He has been serving full duty for eight years. Mirza Fakhrul passed three national elections in one era. In 2014 boycott of votes, in 2018 party worst situation, and in 2024 calling for agitation but no response came. Questions arose about the leadership weakness of the party's general secretary, standing committee, and those who were involved in the movement. Many seniors did not implement Tarique Rahman's instructions. The popularity of the BNP, the support of the common people, and the sacrifice of the grassroots could not be used. This time, immediately after the election, strong demands have been raised from the grassroots level through the council to change the secretary general and replace the people who are qualified in the movement in the standing committee.
However, a large part of the high command raised questions about this and said - who is the alternative to Mirza Fakhrul? Mirza Fakhrul is popular with all parties. A large part of the country's civil society is also satisfied with Mirza Fakhrul. However, BNP's renegade leaders also have no counter-complaints about this. They say - there is no question about Fakhrul in being accepted by everyone in humility and gentleness. The party's two vice-chairmen, a joint secretary, on condition of anonymity, said, "Forming a united front by breaking up 20 parties, not holding a movement after the arrest of Khaleda Zia, holding a simultaneous movement with 63 parties without coming together under one banner with all the 12th parties are part of this process. In these cases, the Secretary General was much behind.
Our biggest mistake was to protest after the detention of Khaleda. The demands of a large part of those who were experienced in politics in our party were protesting.
But a proposal came from a group including the Secretary-General that Khaleda Zia will be released within a week. Khaleda Zia will not be freed if she does the movement. At the end of the day, the movement was destroyed by that proposal. After that, some senior leaders of the party, including the Secretary-General, went to jail and told Khaleda Zia that if the BNP participated in the elections, the government would be forced to step down.
Then Dr. Kamal, Abdur Rab, and Sultan Manchur took the same stage. At the end of the day, six people were sent to Parliament as part of the movement after getting only six seats. Also, even after two elections, no result has been reached for Khaleda Zia, the main leader of the party.
These three top leaders also said - this time the tide of BNP victory rose on the 12th national election, and people joined the public meeting even after crossing the river. Political issues were in the house of the BNP but the unknown mystery did not result in anything. Many diplomats, including the United States, have asked for a movement under the banner of BNP-Jamaat this time.
A vice chairman of BNP said that some important countries had proposed to BNP that BNP Jamaat would protest under one banner. Then the pressure that India has in this region will be brought to a diplomatic solution with India through the movement situation. It has not become possible due to the obstruction of a few people in the party.
If there had been a one-stage movement this time, it would not have been possible for the Awami League to form the government this time. The biggest shame for the BNP this time was that the leaders and activists were arrested from the streets and the top leaders of our high command were arrested from their homes.
The situation would have been better if our General Secretary and Standing Committee leaders had been arrested from the program. Employees also have trust and accountability. The related sources say that a large part of the party still does not want the council. Because the grassroots is angry with the high command. A council hall that can bring leadership who is skilled in political matters, for street programs.
Many senior leaders of the party, including the General Secretary, may be left out of the leadership. For this reason, a section is asking that the responsibility be handed over to the acting chairman of the party instead of the council. At least the seniors will not be left out. The team will have a senior-junior mix. In the council hall, angry leaders can take any decision.
It is almost obvious that the Trinamool is angry with the leadership of the J High Command. However, there is no comment from anyone from Trinamool about the leadership of Khaleda Zia Tarek Rahman. They will be led by Khaleda Zia in the absence of Tariq Rahman. Many changes will come in the council if these two positions are fixed. Many members of the Standing Committee, including the Secretary-General, will burn copal.
People who keep an eye on politics say the scenario is the same in this group! There is no change in BNP. Repeatedly failed to move. Such as the eleventh election; not so the twelfth election. Votes bind coalitions. As the number increases, so does the noise. Silence after the vote. A terrible whirlwind in the politics of the party. After turning around once, you fall again. All in all, the signs are not good. Since 2016, the council of the party has not been held for almost eight years. There is a mixed reaction in BNP regarding this expired committee. Political analysts say that the BNP does politics by talking about democracy, but there is no democracy in their party. So they are ignoring the Representation of the People Order (RPO). Party leaders and activists have repeatedly raised the demand for a national council. However, the BNP High Command is not taking their demands into consideration. As many as 130 posts in the Central Committee are now vacant. Some leaders of the party are also inactive in organizational activities due to age. BNP's highest policy-making forum standing committee currently has 19 posts. Among them, five posts are vacant. After searching, it is known that the last council was held by BNP in March 2016. The party announced a 17-member standing committee in August that year. There are 19 posts in the Standing Committee. Since then, two posts have still vacant. After the death of MK Anwar, Tariqul Islam, AS Hannan Shah, and Maudud Ahmad, six posts fell vacant. Former army chief Mahbubur Rahman resigned leaving seven vacancies. Selima Rahman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku were included in the Standing Committee on June 22, 2019, now five posts are vacant. Currently, the party's chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, Acting Chairman Tariq Rahman, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Zamir Uddin Sarkar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moin Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Amir Khosru are in the standing committee. When asked, a former student leader, Milan Mia, said that we were far from the right message about what to do at the grassroots level. We have many complaints about senior leaders. We are blocked from the highway, we cannot go home. And keep our policymakers out of the bedroom. All in all, we have no clarity of thought, no clarity of action. This is why Binpi is in such a fragile state today. We definitely need councils to lead reforms. We have full confidence in Khaleda Zia and Tariq Rahman. At the same time, trust is also essential in the other policy-making forums we have. Who is Mirza Fakhrul's alternative? This Trinamool leader added that it will become clear only when the council.
When asked, BNP Vice Chairman Mo Shahjahan said, "There is no question from our Trinamool High Command regarding Khaleda Zia and Tariq Rahman." Khaleda Zia is our main leader. Tariq Rahman in his absence. Trinamool will not compromise on these two even if it is a council. If you tell me, I will also say that there is no alternative to Mirza Fakhrul in the team. There are very few leaders who are as transparent and sacrificial as he is acceptable to all. However, if there is a council, the leaders must be trusted. It is difficult to say whether there will be a council in the current situation, but there is some discussion about it. But even if it is not a council, our acting chairman has been given the power to take any decision.
Barrister Zamir Uddin Sarkar, a member of the BNP Standing Committee, said, "We are a big political party, we have to have a council." In time we will. However, given the current political situation in the country, it is difficult to fix the date of the council. It is difficult to say who will come and who will not come, the councilors will decide.
