BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is most concerned about the US visa restrictions and it is visible on her face.

"The ruling party men who indulged in corruption and injustice, the corrupt businessmen, and those who carried out extrajudicial killings…are all scared after the new visa policy. We want to say that politically, your [prime minister] time is up. Please step down gracefully, or else people will drag you down from power," 

Fakhrul was speaking at a rally organised by Shikhakh-Karmachari Oikya Jote, a pro-BNP teachers' association, at the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in the capital to mark World Teachers' Day.

Fakhrul said, "You [Hasina] will have to be accountable for your misdeeds someday. If you want to leave with dignity, leave now. We have asked [you] to resign, dissolve parliament, and hold elections under a non-partisan caretaker government."

Referring to the PM's remarks at the Gono Bhaban on the caretaker government, the BNP secretary general said, "Without a neutral caretaker government, a free and fair election cannot be held in Bangladesh... There were proofs in the polls held in 2014 and 2018."

He further said that the prime minister's claim that they held free and fair elections was shocking.

Mentioning that 45 lakh false cases were filed against BNP supporters in recent years, Fakhrul alleged that over the last year, 22 BNP men were killed while numerous false cases were filed against 8,000 leaders and activists.

Criticising the incidents of dismissing, oppressing, and jailing teachers, he said if the BNP comes to power, it will implement the declaration to nationalise teachers' jobs.