'There is no question of dialogue'

The Daily Star (TDS): The AL-led government has been repeatedly saying that the present political turmoil is a law and order problem not a political problem. So, it has chosen the path of using state machinery to tackle the BNP-led movement. But it seems the situation has improved very little. What do you think? 

Tofail Ahmed (TA): I think the situation is much better now than the January 5 election period. In various newspaper reports, we see that situation is normal. We are seeing traffic jam in the capital city. The situation is getting better steadily.

TDS: The government has postponed SSC exam schedule. It is widely reported that the ongoing political gridlock is affecting our economy badly. Still you are saying the situation is normal!

TA: Khaleda Zia is destroying the future of the young generation. That's why she has resorted to such violent programmes of hartal and oborodh during the SSC exam. We could have held the exam. I myself took the responsibility. I told our honourable prime minister not to shift the date of the exam. But she is a mother. She said if a single student faced any hurdle it would hurt her. So she decided not to hold the exams amid hartal and oborodh. 

Khaleda Zia stopped our children's exam but she sent back her grandchildren for exam in Malaysia even before completion of forty days of their father's death. This cannot be politics.

During the War of Liberation there was a plan to annihilate our intellectuals. Now, Khaleda Zia has planned to do the same by putting the burden of hartal on our young generation. In Pakistan, we saw the killing of 141 students in an attack on a school. Here, Khaleda Zia is doing the same.

Now, various global research organisations are saying that Bangladesh is ahead of Pakistan in most of the economic and social indices. We are even ahead of India in some development indices like maternal mortality, child birth rate, longevity and so on. CNN "Money" has said that Iraq, Bangladesh and India are the three countries which will grow most in the next few years. Goldman Sachs projected Bangladesh as one of the next emerging 11. JP Morgan named Bangladesh one of the frontier five. They are saying Bangladesh has achieved tremendous progress; Bangladesh is a development miracle. Khaleda Zia is trying to destroy this growth. It cannot be called political movement. It is simply terrorism. It is an act of terrorism against the progress and future of Bangladesh.

TDS: You are saying BNP is doing terrorism. Some of your leaders even compared it with various international terrorist organisations. Don't you think it is wrong to equate a political party with terrorist organisation?

TA: We did not call it terrorist organisation. We said that what it is doing is terrorism because they do not have people's support for their programmes. In our time we also called hartal and people supported our call. But in BNP's hartal  and oborodh do you find general people's participation? Even in my district Bhola, everything is normal. At this moment not a single industry is closed. Train, buses and launches are moving normally.

TDS: But the government has given instruction not to run buses after 9pm. 

TA: It has been done for people's safety. In Comilla, they hurled a bomb at a bus at midnight and 14 people were burnt to death. They are monsters. They are inhuman. They are taking revenge on general people. It will never succeed.

TDS: How do you see the move by Udbigno Nagorik (concerned citizens)?

TA: Those who have gathered under the banner of Udbigno Nagorik and urged for dialogue have political background. They are not ordinary citizens. We know each of them.  They are not the real representatives of the people. They tried to equate BNP with AL. But they are talking about violence after people questioned them as to why they did not talk about violence or terrorism. They have changed their stance. If someone urges the government to sit with such an evil force after all of their violent activities, then US would have sat with ISIS or Taliban. The civilised world is rather fighting these menaces. 

Where were those concerned citizens when, before the January 5 elections, the PM repeatedly called for dialogue and Khaleda Zia refused to sit? Where were those concerned citizens when the PM called Khaleda Zia over phone for dialogue? Now, as the situation is getting normal and BNP is getting into deep crisis, these concerned citizens are urging for dialogue to rescue BNP. It will not work. They will not succeed.

TDS: It is agreed that BNP has to stop violence. But after doing that will you sit for dialogue? Honourable PM herself had talked about midterm elections.

TA: This is completely wrong. She never talked about midterm elections. I challenge. Personally someone can say that. Yes there was a declaration that according to the constitution we have to hold an election before January24, 2014, and we did that. If we had failed to do that an undemocratic government would have moved in. It happened in Thailand, that's why the army has captured power there. But it did not happen in Bangladesh. It was the determination and efficiency of our prime minister that we held the election. The elections were for five year tenure. So, now, there is no question of dialogue. 

TDS: What about UN's move?

TA: Mr. Taranco himself refused to come at this moment. Whoever comes, AL will not hold dialogue with any terrorist organisation.

TDS: If BNP-led alliance stops violence?

TA: Why dialogue? We wanted to sit for dialogue to avoid this kind of violence. But they did not listen to our requests. What will we get from this dialogue? Khaleda Zia has given a 7-point demand, none of which is acceptable to us. She asked for caretaker government which is out of the question. She asked for mid-term election, which is also out of question. She asked for many other things, none of which is acceptable to us.

TDS: Do you have any proposal for coming out of this impasse?

TA: I have only one proposal: BNP has to wait till January 29, 2019.