By A P Abritty :

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said the party’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman will return to Bangladesh from London on December 25.

“I am delighted to announce that our party’s acting chairman — the most beloved leader of millions, who has been in exile abroad for nearly 18 years — will finally set foot on the soil of Dhaka on December 25,” Mirza Fakhrul told a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s office in Gulshan tonight.

Addressing today’s armed attack on Inqilab Moncho spokesperson and aspiring candidate for Dhaka-8 constituency Sharif Osman Hadi in the capital’s Bijoynagar area, Fakhrul said, “Our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has strongly condemned this incident. We, on behalf of the party, also condemn it. We demand the immediate identification and prosecution of those involved.”

Speaking on the upcoming national election, the BNP secretary general warned that failing to ensure fairness would endanger the country’s democratic progress.

“If they do not attempt to make the election fair, the transition of democracy will be obstructed and the democratic journey will be hampered,” he said.