Prince accuses Jamaat of fabricating ‘BNP-AL ties’ over 2006 violence

BNP Joint Secretary General Syed Emran Saleh Prince has accused Jamaat-e-Islami of fabricating claims of a secret understanding between the ruling party and the Awami League over the violence of 28 October 2006, calling the allegation baseless and politically motivated.

“Spreading fabricated stories against the ruling BNP will not conceal Jamaat’s back-channel ties with the fascist Awami League,” he said at a meeting with leaders of the BNP and its affiliated organisations at the Munshirhat madrasa ground in Mymensingh’ Dhobaura upazila today (29 October).

Yesterday, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar alleged that the ruling party had a secret understanding with the Awami League over the events of 28 October 2006.

Rejecting the allegation, Prince, who is also the administrator of Mymensingh district council, said it was an attempt to mislead the people and conceal Jamaat’s own political failures and historical responsibility.

He described the violence of 28 October as a “dark chapter” in Bangladesh’s political history, saying the bloodshed could not be explained away through an invented story of political compromise.

He also said equating the ruling party with the Awami League would ignore the latter’s past misdeeds, as well as the BNP’s long struggle against its rule.

Prince urged BNP leaders and activists to remain united ahead of the upcoming Union Parishad elections.

He said the party would support one candidate in each area based on local leaders’ views and the candidate’s popularity and acceptability, adding that those who defied the party’s decision would face strict action.