BANGLADESH

BNP claims that the government is scared of a mass upsurge from its road march programmes.

BNP policymaker Nazrul Islam Khan's comment comes within a day of the prime minister saying that it was more of a 'road show' than a road march.

He said on Monday the "mass uprising" triggered by the road marches do not sit well with the government. "So the prime minister has been making different remarks about it."

"We want to state that BNP neither cares about nor will it be scared off by threats."

BNP chief Khaleda Zia will set off on another road march towards Chapainawabganj on Tuesday, having finished her road march to Sylhet. The opposition is pressing for revival of the non-party caretaker government system to oversee national elections which was abolished by the ruling Awami League.

BNP's Nazrul Islam said, "The prime minister has forgotten her past. Once upon a time, she also went on road marches in cars, not on foot."

He said Awami League chose to forget the past at its convenience. The senior leader said the ruling party would never criticise itself even though it is guilty of the same sin.

"It was fine when they had talks with Jamaat (-i-Islami) sitting in the same table. But when that same Jamaat joins forces with the BNP, they become war criminals."

Prime minister Hasina had questioned where the cars had come during her speech. She warned, "Where have so many cars come from? The owners will be traced through the number plates and their source of funds investigated."

Nazrul Islam fired his own barb saying that visitors to the prime minister's office and the Secretariat, riding their Mercedes' and Lexus' should instead be investigated.