'Oust govt to protect sovereignty'

Workers Party of Bangladesh stages a demonstration at Muktangan in the city yesterday protesting the move to form an anti-terrorism unit with the assistance of the United States. PHOTO: STAR

The move is just a ploy on the part of the government to stay in power for the next term with the support of the USA, they said at a rally at Muktangan in the city.

The leaders said the Khaleda-Nizami alliance government has been exploding bombs across the country with the help of militants to prepare the grounds for forming the anti-terrorism unit.

Alleging that the government is trying to turn the country into a colony of the USA, they called on the people to be united to oust the alliance government in order to safeguard the sovereignty of the country.

WP General Secretary Bimal Biswas said what the government has done so far to arrest the Islamist extremists is nothing but an eyewash. It wants to use the militants in the next election to its advantage, he added.

The government is also using the terrorist issue to distract attention from the present political movement and prepare the grounds for the formation of the anti-terrorism unit with the assistance of USA, he said.

The government wants to turn this country into a military base for foreign forces, he said, adding that but the people of the country will resist such evil design at any cost.

WP leaders Nurul Hasan, Hajera Sultana, Dr Akhtar Sobhan, Kamrul Hasan, Kazi Rashed and Shahinur Rahman Komol also spoke at the rally.

Later, the party leaders and activists took out a procession that paraded some city streets.