DHAKA: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has appealed to the government to conduct fair polls under a non-partisan administration to usher in peace in Bangladesh.
 
“There is no alternative to holding fair polls immediately under a non-partisan government for the sake of peace,” she said.
 
Khaleda Zia aired the demand while addressing a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the city on Monday afternoon.
 
Claiming that the government has no mandate to run the country, she urged the Sheikh Hasina government to start negotiations for holding a free and fair election.
 
Khaleda Zia declared: “The so-called new government has no moral right to rule as it has grabbed power with the help of the police without the participation of voters empowered to elect the government in a democracy.”

Khaleda Zia accused the government of resorting to killings and abductions during joint force operations across the country. “Stop the killings and abductions,” she thundered.

She also levelled allegations of corruption against the government and urged her supporters to overthrow the government.
 
The former prime minister of the country said that the government is running scared of the common man. “That`s why even our peaceful programmes like Road to Democracy are forcibly stopped.”

“The government does not believe in multi-party democracy. That`s why the country witnessed unilateral elections,” she said, adding: “The government is illegal.”
 
Taking up cudgels on behalf of the media, Khaleda Zia severely criticized the government for its "misdeeds" like shutting down the Daily Inqilab and Amar Desh.
 
She also told her audience that the freedom of Bangladesh is in danger because of Awami League`s "dictatorial" tendencies.
 
Khaleda accused the government is filing false cases against senior leaders and activists of the party. “The jails of the country have been filled up with BNP leaders and activists,” she said.
 
She also demanded the immediate release of all leaders belonging to opposition parties.  
 
Foreign investments will not come until a ‘democratic government’ is installed after holding a fair and participatory election, she claimed.
 
Khaleda Zia strongly condemned the attack on minorities across the country. “The Awami League government attacked the minority people of the country,” she said.
 
The former prime minister also branded the government a ‘government of terrorists’. Waving copies of newspapers, she said that the Awami League government was sheltering "terrorists".
 
The former opposition leader profusely thanked her countrymen for boycotting the January 5 polls.      
 
Khaleda Zia said that one of the main reasons for holding the rally was to thank the common man for reposing faith in the BNP and boycotting the elections.

BDST: 2000 HRS, JAN 20, 2014