Accusing India of trying to destabilise the interim government, BNP senior leader Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Friday said no country would succeed in hatching a conspiracy against the 18 crore united people of Bangladesh.

“What are India and some Hindu community members here now creating a kind of problem and defaming us all over the world, denting our image? Their only goal is to create chaos here and try to make this government fail,” he told a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club.

Pro-BNP student leaders of Ducsu and the All Party Students Unity (Apsu) of the 90s arranged the programme, marking the Fall of Autocracy Day.

On December 6, 1990, military dictator HM Ershad stepped down in the face of a mass upsurge and handed power over to a caretaker government, ending his nine years of autocratic rule which began with his coup on March 24, 1982.

Mosharraf, a BNP Standing Committee member, said various conspiracies are being hatched over minor issues.

“Have the Hindu community only been living in Bangladesh for three months? They have been living here in great harmony since independence,” he said.

The BNP leader called upon all, regardless of religion or caste, to confront all conspiracies.

“Our leader Ziaur Rahman solved this problem by saying that there is no such thing as Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and Muslim here. Everyone is a citizen of Bangladesh and Bangladeshi. So, why should we create such a division here and tolerate this?” he said.

The BNP leader said the people of Bangladesh have repeatedly changed the government through mass uprisings. “So there is no scope to undermine the people of this country. The people will decide what their government will be and how they will run the country.”

He said the country’s people, regardless of all religions, must unite to maintain peace and move towards the development of the country.

“If our 18 crore people here are united, then no matter what country they are in, they will not be able to succeed in any conspiracy against us,” the BNP leader said.

He said the current government is committed to carrying out reforms as the previous government ruined all the state institutions.

Mosharraf urged the government to give priority to a prompt reform of the election system and come up with an election roadmap.