Nation worried due to PM's comment about IS, int'l pressure

BNP yesterday said the nation was worried over Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's remarks that there was tremendous international pressure on her administration to admit the presence of Islamic State in Bangladesh.   

Addressing a press conference at its Naya Paltan headquarters in the capital hours after Hasina's one at her Gono Bhaban residence, BNP's spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon urged the government to immediately build national unity to resist militancy. 

Criticising Hasina for rejecting BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's offer for national dialogue, he said, "(The offer) is not a weakness of BNP. The government was in luck to have got the BNP offer…even after conducting immense oppression upon the party men."

On BNP's stance on the war crimes trials, he said it was clear. BNP wants a transparent trial of international standard over crimes against humanity. But it does not support any trial fulfilling political desires, said Ripon.

"There are several observations of the international community. It is the government's duty to meet the observations," he said.