The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) no longer considers the National Citizen Party (NCP) as a force. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami will not be allowed to climb back on top. Jamaat’s strength is far less than the importance the BNP unnecessarily attached to it.
Such remarks were attributed to BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in an interview published in Kolkata-based Bengali newspaper Ei Samay. The interview appeared in the newspaper’s online edition on Monday.
The interview, published under the headline “Why does India put BNP and Jamaat in the same bracket? — Mirza Asks”, has sparked stir and controversy in Bangladesh’s political arena.
Jamaat-e-Islami has issued strong condemnation and protest over some of the comments, while NCP leaders have also reacted to the interview.
However, the BNP has clarified on behalf of its secretary general, who is currently in the United States with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, that the Ei Samay interview was misrepresented and misleading. The party also said that the BNP secretary general did not make such remarks.