Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said the government has insulted and betrayed 70% of the country’s people by denying the referendum verdict. Addressing the government, he said, “We wanted to bury fascism and authoritarianism and settle everything inside parliament. We did not want to come to the streets, but you have forced us to come here.” He said the people’s referendum verdict must be implemented, and vowed the alliance would win that demand.
He made these remarks as chief guest at the closing rally of the Dhaka-to-Chattogram long march, organized by the 11-party alliance, at Chattogram’s historic Laldighi Maidan on Saturday night. A massive crowd gathered at and around the venue for the rally.
Earlier Saturday morning, at the opening rally of the long march at Shapla Chattar in the capital, the Jamaat Amir said, “We have taken to the streets for the people, and we will return home only after winning the people’s rights, God willing.”
The Jamaat-led 11-party alliance carried out the Dhaka-to-Chattogram long march Saturday to deliver a stern warning to the government demanding immediate implementation of the referendum verdict and its six-point demand. The alliance warned that if the demands are not met, it will hold long marches in three more divisions before launching a one-point movement to topple the government through a mass rally in Dhaka.
Speaking at the Laldighi rally, chaired by Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram, the opposition leader said the six points are not a personal demand of the 11-party alliance but a demand of the country’s people. Noting that an unelected government did not send them to paradise, Shafiqur Rahman asked, “Are you still the same as you were back then, or not?”
He said members of the ruling party are now involved in theft and extortion, and when caught, identify themselves as Awami League members, accusing them of operating covertly.
Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said, “Today, when we called for this long march, rashes broke out in various places. This movement of ours is not a post-Eid movement — it is a movement to secure the people’s demands.” Asking what prayer people should recite for those who take the path to departure, he said it remains to be seen whether the BNP wants to walk the same path the previous government took when it departed.
On Chattogram’s mayor, he said, “This mayor’s term has expired. What do you call this? This is fascism.” He said the BNP had promised the country would be run by elected representatives, and asked whether those now installed as administrators are elected.
Shafiqur Rahman said today’s long march was meant to warn the government, and future ones would not be the same. He said there is no room to think they bear no responsibility for those killed or disappeared, and warned that the opposition cannot be bought with greed or bait. He said a call for a broader movement would come soon, and that fascists, criminals, extortionists, the corrupt and hegemonists would certainly lose this fight.
Recalling the sacrifices of those martyred or disappeared in past movements, the Jamaat Amir said a huge number of people lost their lives, many disappeared, and many were held in secret detention centers. In such circumstances, he said, a government calling itself a “child government” after six months in power is unacceptable, since the people did not vote for a child — they voted based on promises made to adults.
Issuing a stern warning to the government, the Jamaat Amir said the government cannot keep doing whatever it wants while the opposition sits idle. “Our fingers remain straight for now, but we will not hesitate to bend them if necessary,” he said.
Opposition Chief Whip and NCP convener Nahid Islam said Prime Minister Tareque Rahman is responsible for this crisis. “If he had made parliament functional, we would have stayed there. If he had taken the oath of the constitutional reform commission and implemented the July Charter, we would not have had to take to the streets. Because he has kept parliament ineffective, we have been forced onto the streets,” he said.
He added, “Tareque Rahman, you have stopped speaking. When you do speak occasionally, you make mistakes. That is why you have kept Mr. Salahuddin to speak for you. But the people of this country have rejected his words with contempt. The people have boycotted him.”
Nahid Islam said, “In a parliament where Mr. Salahuddin alone can take on the responsibility of every ministry, and handle every duty by himself, surely he can also carry out the opposition’s duties. So you all stay in parliament — we will stay on the streets with the people.”
Saying the country’s people are not doing well, he said the country faces an acute crisis in oil, gas and electricity, and the government has failed on every front. “I want to tell the government: while there is still time, take the initiative to run the country responsibly with the opposition on board. Ease the people’s suffering. Otherwise — people waited 16 years to stop Sheikh Hasina’s misrule; we will not wait even five years for you.”
In his remarks as chair, LDP Chairman Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram said the country’s people want the BNP government changed, and that this government should change and leave for good. Noting that party loyalists have been appointed everywhere, he said there is no difference between the BNP government and BAKSAL.
He said, “They said if they came to power they would give jobs to 100,000 people. Now 100,000 people have lost their jobs. A fundamentalist is someone who believes in core principles — we are not extremists.”
Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Amir Maulana Mamunul Haque said the BNP had campaigned for the referendum before the election, but is now claiming it only said so to secure the vote. He said this shows the BNP founded by Ziaur Rahman has become a self-confessed hypocritical party, warning that if the July Charter is not implemented, the constitutional reform movement will turn into a movement to topple the government.
Also speaking at the rally were 11-party alliance coordinator and Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad, NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, NCP joint chief organizer Nasiruddin Patwari, Lt. Col. (retd.) Hasinur Rahman, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Maulana Muhammad Shahjahan, lawmakers Shahjahan Chowdhury and Zahirul Islam, metropolitan Amir Nazrul Islam, former lawmaker A.N.M. Shamsul Islam, AB Party Chairman Mujibur Rahman Manju, Labour Party Chairman Dr. Mostafizur Rahman Iran, Nezam-e-Islam Party Secretary General Musa Bin Izhar, Chhatra Shibir Secretary General Muhammad Sibgatullah, and Dhaka Metropolitan South Jamaat Amir and lawmaker Nurul Islam Bulbul, among others.
Leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami, the NCP and other parties in the 11-party alliance began arriving at Laldighi Maidan from various districts of Chattogram division from early Saturday afternoon. The venue was packed before 3 p.m. Attendees displayed placards calling on the government to implement the referendum verdict. A large number of law enforcement personnel were deployed around Laldighi and the surrounding area. The rally ended at 9:30 p.m.
The long march had begun earlier Saturday morning from Shapla Chattar in the capital, covering roughly 250 kilometers before concluding with the rally at Chattogram’s historic Laldighi Maidan that night. Roadside rallies were held along the way at Kanchpur in the port city of Narayanganj, Padua Bazar and Chauddagram in Cumilla, Mohipal in Feni, and Mirsarai and Sitakunda in Chattogram, drawing large crowds of 11-party activists that turned each stop into a public gathering.
At these gatherings, opposition leaders said the government broke its promise to the nation by failing to implement the referendum verdict. They said the government has failed over the past six months on fuel, gas, electricity and water shortages, rising prices, law and order, and prosecuting the mass killings. They said the opposition would remain vocal in parliament and on the streets to press for solutions to these problems.
From Shapla Chattar to Laldighi, local leaders and activists of the alliance’s constituent parties lined the roadside at various points, waving national and party flags to greet the roughly 1,500-vehicle convoy. Food and water were distributed to long-march participants at various points along the way, and the program drew enthusiasm from ordinary onlookers as well as alliance activists, with local leaders and activists joining the convoy with their own vehicles along the route. Various performing groups also provided music at the rallies.
The 11 parties spent several days preparing for the long march, the current opposition’s first large-scale program. Law enforcement presence and activity along the route were visible throughout, to help the march proceed peacefully. Although the long march concluded peacefully, a couple of vehicles in the convoy reportedly met with minor accidents along the way.
The 11-party alliance had earlier announced the long-march program — covering four divisions along with a mass rally in Dhaka over the six-point demand — from a sit-in at the capital’s Muktangan on Aug. 6.
Following the Dhaka-Chattogram long march, the 11-party alliance will hold further marches: to Rangpur on Sept. 19, to Khulna-Kushtia on Oct. 31, and by train toward Sylhet city on Nov. 21. A mass rally in Dhaka is expected to follow in December or January.
The six-point demand also includes justice for the July massacre, resolving the electricity, oil, gas and fertilizer crisis, curbing the rising cost of essential goods, improving law and order, and ending narrow partisan appointments.
Opening rally at Shapla Chattar
The opening rally of the Dhaka-Chattogram long march was held at 7 a.m. at Shapla Chattar in the capital’s Motijheel. As chief guest, the opposition leader said the movement for people’s rights would continue simultaneously in parliament and on the streets.
The Jamaat Amir said a seventh point would be added alongside the six-point demand: that Bangladesh will not tolerate the existence of any extortionist or corrupt individual. He said people are fed up with extortionists, and the corrupt have plundered the people’s rights. “There is no gas, no electricity, no water, yet the gas bill still comes as usual, and the electricity bill comes as a phantom charge. Fed up with this, look what a young man named Sifat said — it was enough to turn Bangladesh upside down. He has been arrested, and party thugs went to the police station and mistreated him. We want to say clearly: on the very issue Sifat protested, Bangladesh’s 180 million people will, if needed, become Sifat and roar in protest. Release him amicably. If you do not, remember — one Nur Hossain, one Yasmin, one Dr. Milon turned many a regime completely upside down.”
Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said, “We are committed to securing the people’s rights. We have begun this program to fulfill that commitment. Alhamdulillah, the strategy behind our program has already begun to work, and its effects have started showing in various places.”
The rally’s opening remarks were delivered by 11-party alliance coordinator and Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad, who said the government cannot remain in power if it fails to meet the six-point demand, including the referendum verdict. Opposition Chief Whip and NCP convener Nahid Islam said the long march is against those seeking to become the new authoritarians, and against those who have not implemented the July Charter in line with the referendum verdict. He warned that if the long march faces obstruction, the movement would swiftly narrow from six points to one.
LDP Chairman Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram said voting for extortionists and thugs will not make the country run well, and the current government is proof of that. Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Amir Allama Mamunul Haque said the government betrayed the nation within six minutes of taking power, and warned the consequences would be far graver if the government fails to grasp the message behind this peaceful long march.
Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar said the government was supposed to form a constitutional reform council within 30 days of a parliamentary session in line with the referendum verdict, but missed that deadline, and would also miss the 180-day deadline for implementing the July Charter after September. He urged the government to accept the referendum verdict and implement the July Charter before the end of September.
NCP member secretary and lawmaker Akhter Hossain said the government has gone against 70% of the people by failing to implement the referendum verdict, and cannot cling to power merely by showing a two-thirds majority in parliament — the people who can vote can also take power away.
AB Party Chairman Mujibur Rahman Manju said the government is losing its footing because it cannot tell friend from foe, and that over the past six months it has nothing to show but stories of a 150-taka lunch and 50,000 family cards, with no real achievement.
Also speaking were Nezam-e-Islam Party Amir Abdul Kaiyum Sobhani, Labour Party Chairman Mostafizur Rahman Iran, Jagpa Vice President Rashed Pradhan, Bangladesh Development Party Chairman Anwarul Islam Chan, Khelafat Andolon Secretary General Mufti Fakhrul Islam, Jamaat Dhaka Metropolitan South Amir and lawmaker Nurul Islam Bulbul, Dhaka Metropolitan North Amir Selim Uddin, and Islami Chhatra Shibir Secretary General Sibgatullah Sibga. The long march set off at 8:30 a.m. after the rally.
Rain-soaked roadside rally in Narayanganj
After the march began, the first roadside rally was held around 9 a.m. near the Kanchpur bridge area in Narayanganj, where thousands of activists gathered despite the rain. Opposition Leader Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said, “We are with the people. We will build a Bangladesh free of fascism. We will succeed. Today’s long march is not the end — it is the beginning.”
Chaired by Jamaat Narayanganj district Amir Maulana Abdul Jabbar, the rally featured special guest remarks from Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam, LDP Chairman Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmed, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Amir Allama Mamunul Haque, and other senior leaders. Local leaders and activists greeted the convoy at various points in Narayanganj.
Unscheduled roadside rally in Nimsar
After Narayanganj, an unscheduled roadside rally took place in the Nimsar area of Cumilla, where the Jamaat Amir addressed a large crowd while standing in his own vehicle by the road. He said, “We have taken to the streets for you. We will return home only after winning your demands, God willing.”
Crowds flock to Padua Bazar rally
One of the long march’s largest roadside rallies was held at the Padua Bazar bus stand on Bishwa Road in Cumilla, drawing activists from surrounding areas and turning into a full rally. In the roughly half-hour stop, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, alongside the six-point demand, also said, “The demand for a Cumilla division was raised back in 1994, but it still has not been implemented. I say to the government: take the initiative to establish Cumilla division. Begin the administrative process and implement it quickly.”
Opposition Chief Whip and NCP convener Nahid Islam said the government has failed to run the country over 180 days and has not implemented a single promise. LDP President Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram said the country has been overrun by extortion and murder, turning it into a hellscape. Also speaking at the rally were Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari, and Jamaat Dhaka Metropolitan South Amir Nurul Islam Bulbul.
Rally in Chauddagram
A large crowd also turned out for the roadside rally in Chauddagram, where Opposition Leader Dr. Shafiqur Rahman was the chief speaker. Also speaking and present were Deputy Opposition Leader Dr. Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, LDP Chairman Col. (retd.) Dr. Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram, and Mia Golam Parwar, among others.
Feni rally turns into a mass gathering
The long-march convoy reached Mohipal in Feni around 3:30 p.m. Surrounded by enthusiastic activists, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said the government has been betraying the nation since it took power. “The government will engage in shameless partisan appointments, and we will not sit silently — we will protest,” he said, calling on the public to take to the streets once the final call comes. Nahid Islam said the people’s aspirations are not being fulfilled and the country is heading in the wrong direction.
Noting that justice for the July massacre has not yet been achieved, Mamunul Haque said, “We want to build a Bangladesh free of fascism and discrimination.” Senior 11-party alliance leaders spoke at the rally.
Final rally in Mirsarai
The final roadside rally of the day was held in the afternoon in Mirsarai, Chattogram, where large numbers of activists from the surrounding areas had gathered well in advance. The Jamaat Amir and other senior 11-party leaders spoke there. An implementation committee, led by Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar and comprising senior leaders from across the 11 parties, held repeated meetings and made extensive preparations for the long march’s success, involving leaders from the alliance’s central and Dhaka metropolitan units as well as nine affiliated wings. The alliance coordinated with the inspector general of police and relevant district administrators and superintendents of police for the program’s smooth conduct. Those involved expressed relief that the program concluded peacefully.