DHAKA: Senior BNP leader Gayeswar Chandra Roy Friday made it a point that the government should first try the killings committed during the post-liberation era and Chhatra League-Jubo Leagues atrocities and then war criminals.   

The comment of the BNP standing committee member, making the government-initiated war crimes trial conditional, came from a press conference arranged by the opposition party at Maulana Bhashani Auditorium.

His loud and clear view came hot on the heels of ruling Awami Leaders’ allegation that BNP kicked up the dust with drastic programmes like hartal with an ulterior motive to torpedo the war criminals’ trial.       

Gayeswar alleged that AL talks much more than it works about trial of the war criminals to “conceal” its failure to assuage the sufferings of the common people of the country.

Replying to the comment of Home Minister Sahara Khatun about hartal, he made it clear that BNP does not fear coercion and threat.

“BNP also wants the trial of war criminals, and there is no relation between hartal and trial of war criminals. We have announced the hartal in common man’s interest,” he said.  

Former premier and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia declared a countrywide dawn-to-dusk shutdown for June 27 from a grand rally in the capital on 19 May against what they called government’s misrule and repressive activities.
   
“The government should not take any action to prevent the hartal as it is necessary to alleviate public sufferings,” he said at the press conference.

Earlier, Syed Ashraful Islam, General Secretary of the Awami League, also alleged at a rally on Thursday afternoon the main opposition BNP called hartal to foil the trial of war criminals.

BDST 0355 hrs May 21, 2010
MM/RS/MMA/MUA