‘Boycott India Campaign’: Top BNP leaders in two minds
BNP standing committee members think the party should not yet get involved in the ongoing campaign for boycotting Indian products.
They said although there is pressure from within for supporting the campaign, the party is yet to finalise its stance regarding the matter.
The top leaders believe that some people, including online activists, called for the campaign in late January out of their grievances against India over the January 7 national polls.
"BNP has nothing to do with the campaign. But if the party joins the campaign, it will be given a political colour, which may in the end backfire," said a BNP standing committee member who attended a virtual meeting of the committee on Monday night.
He said there is no doubt that the anti-Indian sentiment is running high among the party's rank and file, especially after the national election. The issue was discussed in detail at the meeting.
Another standing committee member suggested assessing the overall situation regarding the campaign and drawing up a strategy on dealing with the issue.
"The issue will be discussed at upcoming meetings, and then the party will make its position clear," he said.
Yesterday, The Daily Star approached at least three BNP standing committee members for comments, but none of them wanted to be named considering the sensitivity of the issue.
The issue came up for discussion at the BNP standing committee meeting as the party's Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a press conference on March 20 expressed solidarity with the movement. He threw his Indian shawl on the road in front of the party's Nayapaltan central office.
Later, some other BNP leaders also talked about the campaign for boycotting Indian products.
At Monday's meeting, none of the BNP standing committee members contradicted the statement by Rizvi. But a member told the meeting that the way Rizvi threw his shawl was not decent.
At this stage, another standing committee member said Rizvi later informed the media that he personally threw his shawl, not as a BNP leader.
Another committee member told the meeting that BNP must criticise Indian's measures (regarding Bangladesh) but that criticism should be well thought out.
Another BNP leader said that the party has nothing to do if people start boycotting Indian products and that the party will not be able to ignore the public demand at some point.
"But supporting the campaign of boycotting Indian products will not be wise for the party," he told the standing committee meeting.
The BNP is yet to decide on participating in the upcoming upazila elections. All the standing committee members observed that the party should stay away from the polls.
Some BNP leaders, however, said the party should not bar any individual from running.