Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Mahbubur Rahman speaks to DOT :
I vehemently condemn the harassment and false allegations made against BNP leaders. Many BNP leaders got themselves rejected from the election due to their own shortcomings. Some of them have bank loans while some have not yet repaid theirs. There are allegations against all those exlcuded from the election. I don’t believe the government has any hand in this. I criticize leaders from all spheres. They should’ve prepared their nomination papers properly.
They formed the election board from the party, and thus they were excluded. This shows their irresponsibility, since they’re all big leaders – some of them organizational secretaries, while others district or central leaders. No, this cannot be accepted. They were excluded because of their own political short-sightedness, indifference and negligence.
Bangladesh was born thanks to the concept of election, thanks to democracy. Freedom Fighters fought for these ideals. There is no simple way of looking at it. This has to be seen as some sort of worship or vow; but we have jeopardized this election. There is no scope for neglecting this. To me, this election is extremely important. It was through elections that our independence, sovereignty and democracy were established.
It will be a great injustice if we all question the election or have intention of doing so. I’m not pointing fingers at any particular party, but whoever commits such a thing, no matter what party they may belong to, will be doing a grievous injustice with the people. I have no respect, no confidence, nor any devotion in this election. And this is why I’m not taking any part of it.
Mahbubur Rahman is a member of the BNP Central Committee
Interview by Fahim Bijoy
Translated by Arafat Hasan