14-party protests Kansat killing
Staff Correspondent
Hundreds of leaders and workers of the 14-party opposition combine took to the streets in the city yesterday to protest the killing of eight farmers at Kansat in Chapai-nawabganj and demand justice and compensation for the families of the victims.The BNP-Jamaat ruling alliance has proved itself an autocratic government by killing farmers and violating democratic norms in appointing the chief election commissioner and the two new election commissioners unilaterally, the leaders said at a rally at Muktangan. This government has been resorting to repression frequently as it does not respect the democratic rights of the common people, they said. Awami League Presidium Member Abdur Razzak presided over the rally while General Secretary Abdul Jalil spoke as the chief guest. Referring to the killing of 18 farmers and 17 workers during the previous BNP rule, Abdul Jalil said the Khaleda-Nizami government is the patron of the rich and the enemy of the poor. So they have no right to be in power any longer, he added. The police firing on the common people demanding electricity for agricultural production is the most extreme repression by the four-party alliance, said Jalil, also the coordinator of the 14-party combine. Sensing its defeat in the next elections, the ruling alliance is now conspiring to come to power at any cost, he said. The government has failed to ensure security and establish the rule of law in the country, he said, adding that it is also patronising the militant forces who are now posing a threat to the sovereignty of the state. It has also violated the basic human rights through extra-judicial killings, Jalil noted. AL presidium member Abdur Razzak said prices of all agricultural inputs and diesel have shot up during the rule of the alliance government, leading to shortage of about 32 lakh tonnes of food. He also alleged that the government is harassing the leaders and activists of AL and its allies ahead of the opposition's long march programme scheduled to be held in the city on February 5. "Lakhs of people from across the country will march towards the city, lay siege to the secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office on the day," he said. Razzak also warned the government not to prevent the people from joining the march. AL leaders Omar Ali and Shah Ali Murad, Workers Party leader Quamrul Hasan, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leaders Mir Hossain Aktar and Awlad Hossain, Gonotantri Party leader Sharafat Ali Bhuiyan also spoke at the rally.
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