Opposition leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Dr Shafiqur Rahman has said: “By God, we will give our lives but we will not let ’24 be lost. We are ashamed, because every time ordinary people, students, the young and workers give their lives to win an achievement, some plunderers snatch that achievement away. Even today an attempt is under way to make the achievement of 2024 disappear.”
He made the remarks on Thursday (16 July) afternoon at a discussion and prayer gathering organised by Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dhaka Metropolitan South unit at the IDB auditorium in the capital’s Kakrail, held to mark July Martyrs’ Day in memory of martyr Abu Sayeed and others killed in the July mass uprising.
The Jamaat Amir said: “The parliament and government formed today, everyone admits, are the harvest of 2024. Yet some want to say that 2024 is not so important, that it is the earlier part that matters. We have never said the earlier part is unimportant. It was then that we lost 11 of our top leaders. We lost hundreds of colleagues. Countless people went to jail, lost jobs, could not stay in their homes. We do not deny that sacrifice. But it is also true that without 2024 I could not have been speaking here today, could not have become opposition leader or a member of parliament. In the same way, Tarique Rahman could not have become prime minister.”
Setting out one of the July uprising’s key demands, the Jamaat Amir said the biggest demand had been that fascism must never return to Bangladesh, for which reform of the state and the building of a new Bangladesh were needed, bidding farewell to the rotten politics of the past and establishing a new political culture. “Some have said the referendum is not in the constitution. Others have said the four questions were so complex that it takes four hours just to understand them. Then how did people vote?” he said. “I say these four questions were publicised in advance and explained in all the media. So do you mean to say that only you have intelligence, and the country’s 18 crore people do not? That amounts to insulting the nation. I may be a fool, but my nation is not.”
He added: “If people cannot understand four questions, how will they understand 31 questions? These are all fudges and deceptions. Already one person has said the vote should just get done, so they had accepted everything beforehand. Another has said toll waivers were promised to win votes. If politicians deceive the nation like this, where will the country’s people go? Those who will run the country and make laws should have a minimum ethical standard.”
The opposition leader said: “Before the election everyone was in favour of the referendum. About 70 percent of the people said yes. Now it is being said the government was formed with 51 percent of the vote, so the 70 percent verdict will not be honoured. I want to know, is 51 bigger or is 70 bigger? The debate over how the votes were obtained will remain in history. What was done during a three-and-a-half-hour blackout, the people know. History will judge everything in time.”
Raising questions about the constitution amendment committee too, Dr Shafiqur Rahman said: “Now we are also being told to come and join this procession of disregard. In parliament we are lectured on the constitution. I want to know, is there any committee called a constitution amendment committee anywhere in the constitution? If not, then why this? It is an attempt to make people forget July, to make them forget the referendum.”
He said: “We protested clearly and walked out. If you want to insult the people’s verdict, go ahead — the people themselves will judge it. We are with the people, on the side of the people’s verdict. We will continue the fight. We believe that, God willing, the verdict of 70 percent of the people will not go in vain; it will be implemented.”
He said: “A prawn, when it jumps, goes backwards; it cannot find the road ahead. If the nation keeps looking only backwards, how will it move forward? We have always said, let us look ahead. Let us implement the pledge of 2024.”
Dr Shafiqur Rahman said: “Many have expressed regret about the neighbouring country. We are the only party they dislike. They invited all of Bangladesh’s political parties onto Indian soil, only a red card for Jamaat-e-Islami. But we do not care about that red card. We do not even think of taking shelter on Indian soil. This country is our country. Our place of refuge is the hearts of Bangladesh’s 18 crore people.”
The discussion meeting was chaired by Dhaka Metropolitan South Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Md Nurul Islam Bulbul and conducted by the unit’s secretary, Dr Shafiqul Islam Masud.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report