DHAKA — Bangladesh’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party is following the fascist path of the ousted Awami League on every issue, Opposition Leader and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said Saturday.
Rahman spoke at a national rally of July martyr families and July fighters at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital, organized by Jamaat-e-Islami to demand implementation of the referendum verdict.
“The BNP is following the Awami fascist path on every issue — the same Awami League that mocked the nation and the opposition and established authoritarianism with hired enforcers,” Rahman said. “And now, regrettably, the BNP is opposing every reform the state needs. This is clear betrayal of the nation.”
Warning the BNP, Rahman said: “If July had not happened, this politics would not exist. You could not have come to power if our brothers, sisters, husbands and children had not given their lives. When the martyr families were weeping, the BNP had no time to stand beside them. At that time they wanted an election only to seize power.”
The Jamaat chief said the ruling party speaks of July and martyr Hadi in Parliament but does the opposite in practice. “They accept the 51% of one vote that serves their interests, but reject the 70% verdict of the other referendum that would save the ruling class from autocracy, make the nation free of discrimination, establish good governance and give people a true taste of independence,” he said. “Their duplicity is a shame and a sorrow for the nation. The day they accept the 70% verdict, Bangladesh will be free of fascism.”
Rahman said students poured into the streets on that day. “Everyone was a mastermind. We are accountable to every individual and family. We must account for what we could and could not do.”
He said the BNP is canceling laws and ordinances that would reform the state. “By denying the referendum verdict, they have begun the journey toward fascism,” he said. He cited an attack on MP Masum Mostofa, an attack on Dhaka University students at Shahbagh police station and the display of weapons by miscreants at educational institutions. “July fighters did not want this kind of Bangladesh. We do not want this Bangladesh. We want a changed Bangladesh, where mothers and sisters can go out and return home in safety.”
The opposition leader said July would return and bring a final end to fascism. “We will continue the fight from the front rows. The people will be victorious. We are hopeful Bangladesh will change. This fight will continue in Parliament and on the streets. We have no personal demands. All our demands are in the interest of the country and the people.”
National Citizen Party convener and opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam said the people had dreamed of a new Bangladesh through the July uprising. “Reform commissions were formed, but the BNP obstructed every step. They finally agreed to the referendum, but immediately after the election they are denying its verdict,” Islam said. “The BNP is in effect denying its own existence. No government has become so unpopular in just two months as the BNP government has. We will secure the demands of the July fighters.”
LDP Chairman Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmad Bir Bikram said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman did not know the country’s real situation during the July movement and was simply listening to what he was told. “The people do not want farmer cards or family cards,” he said. “Famine is looming. The economy cannot be managed. The impact will fall on the people. BNP people are engaged in extortion.” He urged the prime minister to break out of the circle around him and sit with the opposition leader to set policy to free the nation.
Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Amir Maulana Mamunul Haque said 70% of the people had voted “yes” in the referendum but the BNP had quietly campaigned against it. “The BNP got away with its hypocrisy once, but it will have to stand in the dock of the people in the future,” he said. He demanded that the July Charter be implemented to the letter through a session of the constitutional reform council.
Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Amir and MP ATM Azharul Islam said the July movement had aimed to build a new Bangladesh free from dominance. “Today that movement is being denied. Two months on, we have had to take to the streets. This will not be pleasant for anyone.” He said if the government did not implement the referendum verdict, he would be the first martyr if the 11-party alliance called a movement.
Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General and former MP Mia Golam Parwar said the government was trying to mislead the public. “We will build a powerful movement again with the people to implement the referendum verdict,” he said, adding that the BNP had submitted a note of dissent on every proposal to reform the constitutional structures that enabled fascism.
Assistant Secretary General Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan, MP, said the current government did not accept the Human Rights Commission, the enforced-disappearance commission, the police reform commission, the ordinance for a separate secretariat for the judiciary, or the referendum. “By force they have cancelled all of these. No fascist government has ever survived in Bangladesh,” he said.
Assistant Secretary General Dr. AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad said July fighters had not imagined having to rally again to demand implementation of the July Charter after the referendum. He said the constitutional reform council should be convened immediately.
Islami Chhatra Shibir central president Nurul Islam Saddam said those rehabilitating fascism would meet the same fate as the fugitive Awami League. “The throne the government sits on is the throne of the July fighters’ blood. If you betray the July fighters and try to break their legs, your own legs will break,” he said.
Others speaking included AB Party Secretary General Barrister Asaduzzaman Fuad, JAGPA President Barrister Tasmia Prodhan, BDP Chairman Advocate Anwarul Islam Chan, Bangladesh Nezame Islam Party Senior Nayeb-e-Amir Mukhlesur Rahman Kasemi, Khelafat Majlis Senior Nayeb-e-Amir Maulana Sakhawat Hossain, Dhaka South Jamaat Amir and MP Nurul Islam Bulbul, Dhaka North Jamaat Amir Selim Uddin, Bangladesh Labour Party Chairman Dr. Mostafizur Rahman Iran, Lawyers Council President Advocate Jasim, mother of child martyr Jabir Ibrahim Rokeya Begum, and student union leaders Riyazul Islam and Mazharul Islam.
The rally was jointly conducted by Jamaat Assistant Secretaries General Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, Advocate Motiur Rahman Akand, Dr. Shafiqul Islam Masud and Central Majlis-e-Shura member Yasin Arafat. It began formally at 10 a.m. with a recitation from the Quran by Qari Enayet Ullah Saifi, with translation by Sharif Bayzid Mahmud and Islamic songs performed by Mashiur Rahman.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report