DHAKA — Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman, returning home after 6,314 days, called on the country to remain calm against any provocation and pledged to build a “safe Bangladesh.”
After setting foot on Bangladeshi soil, Rahman joined a reception in his honor. He stepped onto the stage at about 3:50 p.m. and began his speech at 3:57 p.m., opening with “Dear Bangladesh.”
Rahman then greeted the people of the country and began his address. “Thanks to the Almighty — by your prayers I have been able to return to my beloved motherland,” he said. At one point in the speech, he delivered a “message of just governance.”
“We want peace in the country,” Rahman said. “You have heard the name Martin Luther King, haven’t you? He has a famous line: I have a dream. Standing on this Bangladesh soil today, before all of you, I want to say, as a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, I want to say to you: I have a plan, people of my country, for my country. Today this plan is for the welfare of the country’s people.”
Seeking everyone’s cooperation in implementing that plan, the BNP acting chairman said: “If that plan, that program, that vision is to be implemented for the country’s development and for the change in the fate of its people, dear brothers and sisters, every person in this sea of humanity, every person of democratic strength across Bangladesh, I will need the cooperation of each one. If you stand by us, if you cooperate with us, Insha’Allah we will be able to implement ‘I have a plan.’”
Saying the BNP wants to build a safe Bangladesh, Rahman said: “All of us together will build a Bangladesh of the kind that a mother dreams of. That is, we want to build a safe Bangladesh, where a woman, a man, a child — whoever it may be — can leave home safely and return home safely.”
Rahman said: “Come, let us raise our hands in prayer to the Almighty. O Lord of all, O sole sovereign, O sole sustainer, O sole giver of mercy, O sole helper — if you grant us mercy today, then through the hard work of the people of this country we will be able to build the Bangladesh we hope for. If God’s mercy and help are upon this country and its people today, Insha’Allah we will be able to build our hoped-for Bangladesh.”
He added: “Come, let us all pledge together that, Insha’Allah, those who come to the duty of running the country in the days ahead will all strive to the utmost to govern in the light of the justice of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report