Conspiracy afoot against Jatiyo Party, will hold Saturday's rally at any cost: GM Quader

A conspiracy is currently afoot against the Jatiyo Party by labelling it as an accomplice of Awami League (AL) but the party has never been involved in any illegal activities of the AL government, said the party's Chairman GM Quader this morning (1 November).

He said even though it had formed an alliance with AL in the past, it does not mean the Jatiyo Party has always been an accomplice in all illegal activities of AL.

He made the remarks while addressing an emergency press briefing at the party chairman's Banani office, called after a group of student-public under the banner of "Anti-Fascism Student, Worker and Public" last night (31 October) besieged the party's headquarters in the capital's Bijoynagar area, following a clash with the party's men.

The protesters also set fire to the Jatiyo Party office. First responders, including firefighters, managed to bring the fire under control soon after. Members of the Bangladesh Army and police were then deployed to the scene to control the situation.

Yesterday's clash and unrest occurred after the Jatiyo Party, which was the main opposition in parliament during the last two tenures of the Sheikh Hasina-led AL government, announced it would organise a rally in Kakrail tomorrow (2 November).

"We will hold the rally on Saturday even if it costs us our lives," said Quader today. "Our programme for 2 November is still on. We will continue to fight for the betterment of the country, even if it kills us."

"We will always be there for the people of the country. Everyone must protest from their position," he added.

He strongly condemned the torching of the Jatiyo Party office. "We will stay in the field by organising peaceful protests following rules and seeking legal help. If they come to kill us, we will lay down our lives."

The development comes amid recent tension between the Jatiyo Party leaders and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in recent days after Sarjis Alam, a coordinator of the movement, said the party was an "ally of the fascists" and they will "crush them" on the streets.

GM Quader, the brother of Jatiyo Party founder and late military dictator HM Ershad, said, "We joined the anti-discrimination movement too. We issued statements on every issue. We prayed for the students.

"But when people connected to the chief adviser's office started talking against us, it hurt us because he [chief adviser] remained silent."

Chanting various slogans, protesters yesterday evening said the Jatiyo Party had no right to do politics as it was a "cohort of the AL and India" and it participated in the last three elections under the AL.

At one point, Jatiyo Party supporters came out of the office and the clash ensued. Later, the protesters set fire and vandalised the party's office.

Quader said, "Who we will go to elections with is our decision. We were with AL, but that does not mean we were its cohort. AL pressured us if we did not want to go to elections, and if we did, we faced pressure through various quarters."

However, he said, the past elections were legally valid.

Reminding that the Jatiyo Party is still a national-level political party, he continued, "We have been attacked repeatedly and buried down, but they failed to stop us from coming back.

"A vested quarter cannot tolerate Jatiyo Party's popularity. But no one will be able to destroy the place we hold among the people's hearts. Jatiyo Party is the only party that has maintained legacy."