Now comes the Jamaat question
Staff Correspondent
The ruling BNP while agreeing to allow non-legislator leftist opposition leaders to be on a proposed 10-member committee to discuss the opposition's reform proposals also wants the four-party coalition partners to participate in it.Tension arose over whether or not Jamaat--BNP's biggest alliance partner--will participate in the government-opposition political dialogue as the BNP secretary general yesterday sent letter to the Awami League (AL) general secretary, asking for five representatives irrespective of their legislative and party status. As BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan gave a clear hint about participation of the ruling alliance leaders in the proposed committee, the left-leaning leaders within the AL-led 14-party combine warned against inclusion of any Jamaat man in it. On representation from BNP's alliance partners, Bhuiyan told reporters, "If the 14-party opposition can have their leaders in the committee, why can't we?" Gono Forum General Secretary Saifuddin Ahmed Manik told The Daily Star last night, "I think the government already knows about our reservation about Jamaat. We cannot sit with Jamaat to discuss reforms." Dilip Barua, chairman of Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal, another partner of the 14-party alliance, strongly opposed the idea of including any Jamaat man in the committee, which, if happens, would mar the whole discussion process, he feared.
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