BNP fails to wage mass movement: Quader

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said BNP has not been able to wage a mass movement in the country, let alone mass uprising.

"There is no involvement of general people in the BNP movement. Their movement is limited to the leaders," he said.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, made the remarks while talking to journalists after paying tributes to martyr Matiur Rahman Mallick, who was killed in mass upsurge in 1969.

On behalf of the Awami League, Quader placed a wreath at the altar of Mallick installed on the premises of Bakshibazar Nabakumar Institution and Dr Shahidullah College in the capital, marking the historic 'Mass Upsurge Day'.

In the history of this land, there was a real mass uprising in 1969, while the movement of the 90s was a mass movement, he said.

Criticizing the BNP, the AL general secretary said although BNP leaders were talking about a mass upsurge but they (BNP) had failed to create a mass movement.

Quader said after listening to the March 7 speech of Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, General Ziaur Rahman stated that they got the green signal of independence from this speech.

"Unfortunately today BNP does not recognise and observe these historical days. They do not observe the March 7, the June 7 and Mujibnagar Government Day on April 17. They do not observe the January 10. The January 24 is observed as the Mass Upsurge Day, as it is the final milestone on the road to independence. They even do not acknowledge this historical milestone," he said.

Mentioning that Bangabandhu had the only valid right to proclamation of the country's independence, the AL general secretary said the AL, led by Bangabandhu won 167 seats out of 169 in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in the 1970 elections.

He said Bangabandhu demanded one-point and that was the independence since the Pakistan government was reluctant to hand over power to the AL.

"Today many claim to be the declarer of the country's independence. But none except Bangabandhu had the legal right to declare the independence," Quader said.

About the use of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the next general elections, he said the AL will accept the decision of the Election Commission (EC) over the EVM use.

"We demanded EVM use in all seats in the 2018 elections...we also demand the same in the next polls. Now the decision is not ours...we just demanded it. We (Awami League) will accept the EC’s decision," the AL general secretary said.

AL presidium member and Deputy Leader of Parliament Matia Chowdhury, AL presidium members Shajahan Khan, Dr Mustafa Jalal Mohiuddin and Advocate Quamrul Islam, organising secretaries Afzal Hossain and Sujit Roy Nandi, cultural affairs secretary Asim Kumar Ukil, office secretary Barrister Biplab Barua, deputy office secretary Sayeem Khan, Dhaka South City AL president Abu Ahmed Mannafi and Haji Salim, MP, were present, among others.