'Unite to form national govt to root out corruption’

Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB) President Badruddoza Chowdhury speaks at an Iftar party at Sundarban Hotel in the city yesterday. Sitting from right are Jatiya Oikay Mancha convenor Dr Kamal Hossain, BDB Secretary General Major (Retd) Abdul Mannan, Awami League presidium member Tofail Ahmed and Workers’ Party President Rashed Khan Menon. The BDB organised the Iftar party. PHOTO: STAR

The BNP-led four-party alliance government, not the people of the country, is totally responsible for such a disgrace, they said at an Iftar party organised by the Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB) at a city hotel.

They also called on the countrymen to unite to form a national government comprising pro-liberation and patriotic forces to protect the country from the grip of the alliance government, which they said is patronising terrorism and corruption.

"Only a few people are engaged in corruption and they are BNP and Jamaat loyalists," said eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain, convenor of the Jatiya Oikya Mancha.

Only a national government can save the nation from this disgrace, he added.

"How can it be possible to stamp out corruption when ministers, legislators and officials engaged to fight the menace are themselves corrupt," said Dr Kamal, also the president of the Gono Forum.

Terming the ruling alliance a failed government, he said that the alliance government has tarnished the image of the country abroad by failing miserably to curb corruption.

BDB President Badruddoza Chowdhury said that 95 percent of people of the country are not involved in any kind of corruption, but only a few people who are aligned with the alliance government have brought such a disgrace.

He said that the nation now needs competent leaders to lead it on the right track and that only a national government can save the country from this disgrace.

Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed said misrule, nepotism and politicisation by the alliance government have earned the nation the label of the most corrupt country.

He called on all progressive forces to come forward to launch a massive movement against the government for the greater interest of the country.

Krishak Sramik Janata League chief Kader Siddiqui MP, BDB Secretary General Abdul Mannan, JSD President Hasanul Huq Inu, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and CPB General Secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim also spoke.