US visa policy creates huge pressure on BNP: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud today said the US visa policy has created huge pressure on the BNP as now the party has no scope of resisting the elections.
 
"At a press briefing of the US State Department, they said that they have no headache over the caretaker government system. They want a free, fair and neutral election in Bangladesh. That means they don't support BNP's demand for a caretaker government. In fact, nobody supports it across the globe," he said.
 
"So, the BNP has no scope of talking about the issue at least at the international arena. And the visa policy has created pressure on the BNP," said Hasan at a view-exchange meeting with reporters on contemporary issues at the conference room of his ministry at the Secretariat.
 
He said, "During the announcement of the US visa policy in a press briefing they (US) said that they declared the policy in support of the transparent participatory elections that the prime minister of Bangladesh wants to conduct. And the government has reacted in the same way."

The minister said the policy will be applicable to all, including the ruling party and other parties. It will be applicable to anyone who disrupts elections and obstructs the democratic process, said Hasan.
 
He said boycotting elections means obstructing the democratic process and resisting elections means creating conflict.

"The BNP can no longer do these and the visa policy has created a lot of pressure on the BNP," he added.

Mentioning that the BNP takes various programmes to obstruct polls, Hasan said, "I think, the US visa policy, recently announced by the US, will reduce the scope of the BNP to obstruct polls and they (BNP) will have to take part in the polls," he added.
 
He said the US visa policy is not only applicable to Bangladesh but also applicable to many countries. 
 
"They said that the policies have been announced for some countries while the policies for the rest of the countries are yet to be declared."
 
Replying to another query over the BNP's programmes, the minister said the programmes of the party are as usual.

"They [BNP] walk for a while, sit for a while and then vandalise for a while and now they will call programmes for running or walking instead of sitting, he added.