Deeply concerned by the interim government’s approval of a humanitarian corridor from the Chittagong Hill Tracts to Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party planned to launch initiatives with all political parties to resist the move, describing it as a threat to Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty.
Talking to UNB, three BNP standing committee members said that they would take all possible steps, in consultation with other political parties, to mount pressure on the government to abandon the risky plan that could turn Bangladesh into a battlefield like Palestine.
They said that the BNP would either send a letter to the government or dispatch a delegation to meet the chief adviser to learn more about the Rakhine corridor.
The BNP leaders said that their party’s standing committee, at its meeting Monday night, discussed the matter in detail with serious concerns.
They said that the meeting decided to engage with like-minded parties on the issue and simultaneously gather information on the government’s actual intentions in that regard, as well as evidence concerning the real situation in Rakhine.
Later, the party will present the entire matter to the nation based on facts and logic, highlighting that an unelected government, lacking the people’s mandate, has no authority to take decisions on such a highly sensitive issue.
On Saturday, foreign adviser Touhid Hossain announced that the interim government, in principle, agreed to allow a humanitarian corridor under UN supervision, subject to certain conditions.
He, however, did not provide further details on the matter.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, speaking at a programme on Monday, strongly objected to the decision, stating that the interim government should have consulted political parties beforehand, as the issue concerns the country’s independence, sovereignty and the future peace and stability of the region.
Later that night, the BNP policymakers, in a virtual meeting presided over by the party’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, voiced similar concerns.
At the meeting, a BNP standing committee member mentioned that the humanitarian corridor could be part of an international agenda to destabilise the region and possibly create a Christian state involving parts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Myanmar.
He warned that if such plans were implemented, Bangladesh risked becoming another Palestine.
Contacted, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said that they were not fully aware of the matter yet. He urged the government to clearly inform the nation about the decision and the specific conditions involved.
‘We, too, are gathering relevant information and evidence on the issue. We will also discuss it with relevant experts and stakeholders. Once we have done so, our party will announce its formal position,’ he said.
BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed expressed astonishment over the government’s decision, saying, ‘If this decision is implemented, it will jeopardise Bangladesh’s security, peace, stability, territorial integrity and national sovereignty.’
He cautioned that any move which could potentially trigger military conflict with any party in Myanmar would pose a grave risk to Bangladesh.