<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">While the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has recently been gearing up its anti-government movement defying all sorts of obstacles, party leaders say the government is reviving some pending cases against the leaders and activists with a motive to derail the movement.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Some BNP leaders and lawyers say authorities may send some party leaders to jail to convey a message to the opposition party that they would not be spared ahead of next general election.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">But the government repeatedly denied such allegations by BNP in the past, saying that authorities do not influence courts.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, a member of BNP's Standing Committee, told UNB that the government has become “very nervous” over the overall social, political and economic situation while there is pressure from international community to restore democracy through an inclusive and credible election.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“The government has been failing to stop people's participation in our rallies despite carefully-orchestrated obstacles against us.&nbsp; So, the government is desperate to reinforce their repressive acts to suppress us,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“But it's clear from our recent successful rallies that such a political tactic will not work,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">On Tuesday, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court cleared the way for a lower court to continue the trial involving graft charges against BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case in 2007 on charges of amassing wealth illegally.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The trial proceedings against Khandaker Mosharraf on charges of siphoning off Tk90 million are also set to enter its final stage. The ACC filed the case in 2014, accusing him of making money illegally when he was the health minister in 2001-2006.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The ACC has also started an investigation against nine other people, including Standing Committee members Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, for suspicious transactions before the 11th parliamentary elections.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Lawyers loyal to BNP say the trial of many cases against BNP leaders and activists are going on with lower courts in Dhaka and elsewhere.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">BNP says around 36 lakh BNP leaders and activists are now facing over one lakh cases. They say the charges are politically motivated.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government has been trying to eliminate BNP by resorting to killings, enforced disappearances, politically motivated cases and various other repressive acts for nearly 14 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“They may try to jail our leaders on false charges and attack us repeatedly to demoralize our activists, but it'll backfire ultimately,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“If it happens, our leaders will be encouraged further to intensify the movement for ousting the government. It will also dent the government's image and help create public opinions against the regime both at home and abroad which will accelerate its ouster,” Mosharraf warned.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The leader said their party leaders and workers are now not afraid of going to jail as they have been on a do-or-die movement.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“Our party Chairperson was jailed four years ago while our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has been staying abroad. Despite that, our party is united and our organisational capacity is increasing gradually. When they failed to harm BNP by jailing Khaleda Zia, they won't be able to weaken the party by jailing some more party leaders,” Mosharraf said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">He said BNP's leadership structure is not weak and the party has many “alternative leaders” to wage the anti-government movement under any circumstances.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“So, jailing some of the leaders or our activists as a government tactic will not do any good,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Cases are a political weapon</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Advocate Zainul Abedin, a BNP Vice Chairman and ex-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said that the government has taken a strategy to revive the cases against the top BNP leaders as part of its strategy to suppress the ongoing movement.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“As the government has no popularity, it is trying to use the cases against BNP leaders as a weapon to make a political gain. They're now activating some cases against the party's top leaders to spread panic,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The lawyer-turned-BNP leader also said the government wants to send some BNP leaders to jail to weaken the party. “We had an idea that the government can revive the previous cases as a weapon to cling to power.”</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Not worried about jailing</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a BNP Joint Secretary General and former secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said that there is hardly any BNP leader across the country who is not facing any politically motivated cases. “So, we're not worried or afraid about any trial and jailing. We'll face it both politically and legally.”</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">He said many old political cases with lower courts all over the country are also getting pace suddenly since BNP started the current movement in August. “The lower courts are taking a deposition in many cases filed during the 2014 polls and fictitious ones filed ahead of the 2018 election.”</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“They may convict some of our leaders in false cases. But we have many alternative leaders to lead the movement and make it a success. We're aware of the government's evil plan to put us in trouble by using courts. We're also making our strategy to face it,” Khokon said. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>