DHAKA: Sit across the table to solve the problems or risk falling into the trap of ‘minus-2 formula’, said Barrister Nazmul Huda before kicking off a global campaign for national unity in Bangladesh, as rival politicians again apparently headed towards a collision course.          

The former minister and senior leader of the opposition BNP left the message for the country’s two main leaders as he flew abroad with his latest initiative to elicit mass opinion for sitting the two top leaders across the table for a stable political atmosphere in the country.

Meanwhile, banglanews in its report published on Tuesday evening, broke the news of his new move while ATN News, a round-the-clock news-based television channel, Wednesday broadcast a detailed interview with Barrister Huda where he elaborated his plan.      

The initiative taken under the banner of Bangladesh Manabadhikar Bastobayan Sangstha will spearhead a campaign for creating awareness and forming opinion on domestic and international planes—as the country’s divisive politics is known the world over for past crises, the immediate-past one dubbed ‘1/11’.

Nazmul Huda, the former communications minister, left Dhaka on Tuesday night on a global tour, which is believed to be part his present initiative.

Quoting a close aide to Barrister Huda, banglanews in its report said on the current trip he would visit Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

In the interview with ATN News Huda said initiative for opinion formation in this connection has already been underway.

Elaborating on the initiative, Huda said they would organise rally, human chain and workshop at divisional and district levels and finally a grand rally would be staged in the capital, Dhaka.

At the central rally in Dhaka names of three most acceptable persons would be declared, who would negotiate with the two top leaders—Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition and ex-PM Khaleda Zia--trying to bring them across the table for talks with a view to establishing political harmony in the country.

“The initiative will be successful only when two leaders will sit together,” said Nazmul Huda, who had also grabbed public attention in the past times with his political-grandstanding formulae.

“If not,” the barrister-politician argues, “the people of the country would decide whether they would see these two leaders in the top positions anymore or not.”

“And only then the ‘minus-2’ formula would be applicable,” he told ATN News, subtly re-floating the post-1/11 formula that had then flopped.

Waliul Islam, central coordinator of Bangladesh Manabadhikar Bastobayan Sangstha, told banglanews that 350 branches of the organisation and their members have already started functioning to make the campaign a success.

Each of the committees has nearly about 50 members, including advocates, journalists, teachers and locally important personalities.
 
“Opinion-exchange programmes in the divisional cities are scheduled to begin late October,” said Waliul Islam.     

BDST: 1913 HRS, SEP 15, 2010