Moon Desk: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Tuesday called upon the party men to stay with the people and achieve their trust and love through their respective works.
“The country will go on an election roadmap following the path of reform activities. So, let us achieve the people’s trust and love. Stay with the people and keep them with us,” he said.
Tarique made the call while virtually addressing a public rally as the chief guest in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office in the capital marking the International Day of Democracy.
Party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir chaired the rally.
The BNP acting chairman reiterated that changeover of power doesn’t mean only handover of state power; rather it means qualitative change in the state and the country’s politics.
“Every political leader and activist should keep in mind that qualitative change of a political party’s leaders and activists is needed for qualitative change of politics,” he said.
Tarique Rahman urged the party men to prepare themselves to lead a knowledge-based state and society without being confused in any provocation or persuasion.
Tens of thousands of leaders and workers joined the massive gathering. BNP shifted the date of the rally today from Sunday last due to inclement weather.
Recalling the sacrifice of the martyrs to free the country from
autocratic rule, the BNP acting chairman said a huge number of people spontaneously joined the rally on the street.
The pro-Bangladeshi force may have to make more sacrifices to build a discrimination free Bangladesh as cherished by the students-people, he said.
“We have more paths to go. But this path won’t be of terrorism, conflict, revenge or vengeance rather of patience, tolerance and understanding,” the BNP acting chairman said.
Tarique Rahman said the government which is formed through a mass uprising in Bangladesh or any other country must be considered as the government of the people.
So, the people continued supporting the interim government and it will do so in the days to come as well, he hoped.
But at one stage, accountability of the interim government is also ensured through an elected parliament, he mentioned.
So, the foremost and prime target of all the reform activities of the government should be establishing an elected parliament and government through ensuring people’s political empowerment, said the BNP acting chairman.
He urged the government to prioritize the reform programme with the aim of establishing an accountable government and parliament formed with elected representatives by people’s votes.
Tarique Rahman said development, democracy or reforms cannot be sustainable and effective without the political empowerment of the people and without the engagement of people in reform activities.
People’s political empowerment can be ensured through establishing people’s voting rights by holding a free, fair and neutral election, he said.
Tarique Rahman called upon the government to take priority based measures for the reformation of the Election Commission and public administration as well as building law enforcement agencies as efficient forces.
Noting that the interim government has already taken some reform initiatives, the BNP acting chairman said if the interim government cannot fix priorities in view of agenda setting, the clique of conspirators can take various advantages to frustrate the success of the mass upsurge.
Evidences of such conspiracies have already become visible, he added.
Tarique Rahman said the manner of this mass uprising is different from any other previous mass-uprising as the people were confined into the shackle of subjugation losing all democratic and human rights during the illegal regime of the ousted autocrat.
The country was also on the verge of losing its independence and sovereignty, he added.
So, this mass uprising not only established the people’s rights but also protected the country’s independence and sovereignty, Tarique Rahman said.
The BNP acting chairman said the country and its people is now freed from the fears of enforced disappearance, killings, abduction and terrible “Aynaghar”
Now the first task should be establishing the people’s democratic, political and voting rights, he said.
Currently, around 12.5 crore voters are enlisted and around 2.5 crore new voters were included in the voter’s list, he mentioned.
But this 2.5 crore voters of the new generation couldn’t exercise their voting rights in any national election, Tarique Rahman said.
Neither they could elect their cherished public representative nor they get the scope to be public representative by contesting elections, he said.
Noting that half of the total population is women and a large section of society is youth, Tarique Rahman said it is not possible to build a discrimination free humane state keeping this large section of society beyond political partnership.
Unless the political and economic empowerment of people and people’s participation in reform activities can be ensured, reform activities won’t bring any effective results, he mentioned.
