BNP secretary general and Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that the language opposition leaders are now using — “we will not let you stay in power for five years” — is exactly what Sheikh Hasina used to say.
He spoke on Monday (3 August) at a discussion at the National Press Club marking the second anniversary of the July uprising.
The minister said that in 1991 the Awami League had said it would not let the government rest for a single moment, and that current opposition leaders had begun speaking in that same language.
Mirza Fakhrul also said it was a misrepresentation to claim BNP did not want the July charter implemented. The consensus commission had imposed one question on a referendum, he said, and the nation had been deceived; where BNP disagreed, it had said so. BNP would honour every part of the signed July charter, he said.
The minister said the language opposition leaders were using on the streets was not right. Street agitation was their right, he said, but it should not turn to conflict.
He said the prime minister was constantly working for the people’s welfare, and that if, instead of cooperating with the government, people ran only negative propaganda, the country’s progress would be hampered. In the national interest, a culture of tolerance and unity — not conflict — needed to be built, he said.
On press freedom, Mirza Fakhrul said the current government was not interfering with the media in any way. He also said he would discuss the employment of unemployed journalists with the prime minister.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report