Dhaka: Rejecting the treaties signed during Premier Sheikh Hasina's India visit, Bangladesh's main opposition party BNP has said it will launch a series of protests "in and outside Parliament" against the pacts that were made "compromising national interest".
The Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party also said it will end its long abstention from the legislature and its members will protest the government's policies, including the agreements with India.
The bilateral agreements include one on allowing India to use the Chittagong and Mongla seaports and the BNP termed it a question of "our life and death".
"This is a question of our life and death... BNP is not taking it lightly and soon our chairperson (Khaleda Zia) will announce the protest plans," senior BNP leader RA Gani told newsmen after a meeting of the party's highest policy making body at midnight last.
No official briefing was made following the meeting chaired by Zia but several BNP standing committee members later told newsmen that they had decided to wage a tough campaign "in phases," mobilising public opinion and explaining the "negative sides" of the treaties.
Meeting insiders said the party also decided to return to the Parliament, ending their seven-month abstention.
"We are trying to wage a movement in and outside of Parliament against the government's activities," BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, told newsmen.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 14, 2010, 15:55