CHATTOGRAM — The previous government had lost the courage to flee by road and escaped by air, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said Friday, adding that Bangladesh was still not free of fascism more than a year after the August 2024 uprising.
Rahman spoke as chief guest at an eight-party divisional rally in Chattogram that began at 1:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5.
“The fascist government had lost the courage to flee by car, which is why they fled by air. They tried to misuse the patriotic army, police and Border Guard Bangladesh in this misdeed. They destroyed everything in the country. Even though fascism has departed, the country is still not free of fascism. Fascism will not be allowed to stage a comeback,” he said.
Rahman said a group had been preying on ordinary people since the day after the Aug. 5 uprising in an effort to extend its influence. “Extortion and corruption continue. Many who are not in power are still flexing power. They are exerting influence over the administration,” he said.
If necessary, another Aug. 5 will take place, he warned.
Rahman said the previous government had built roads using bamboo instead of steel reinforcement and had looted Bangladesh’s money to set up businesses in Singapore. He said scores of Islamic clerics had been killed at Shapla Chattar and that the former prime minister had later said they had been lying down in paint. “They came to power with bloody hands and they left with bloody hands,” he said.
“We do not want victory for the eight parties; we want victory for the 180 million people. That aspiration will be fulfilled through the Quran. From Chattogram, the trumpet of Islam’s victory will be sounded. The Bangladesh of the future will be the Bangladesh of the Quran,” he said.
Rahman said the eight-party alliance’s road movement would continue until its five-point demands are met. “The unity that has been established among the Islamic parties will take us to Parliament,” he said.
Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis chief Maulana Mamunul Haque, who presided over the rally, said Bangladesh had been built with the blood of its poor and working people and would no longer belong to the elite. Several parties had offered seat-sharing arrangements, he said, but the alliance was seeking to establish the people’s ownership of Bangladesh, deliver the message of Islam and replace capitalist economics with Islamic law.
“The Islamic parties have risen on the soil of Bangladesh through a united movement,” he said. “Victory for the people will come through a united movement against all conspiracies and hegemony.”
Mamunul Haque said voters should also vote ‘yes’ in the referendum being held alongside the parliamentary election. “If any uncertainty arises over the election, the government will have to bear the responsibility,” he said. He also asked everyone to pray for the recovery of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim, senior nayeb-e-ameer of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, said as a special guest that an Islamic state had not been established when the British left and that inequality had not ended with the 1971 liberation war. Subsequent governments through 2024 had failed to free people from inequality, he said, and even the August 2024 uprising had not delivered liberation despite the sacrifice of thousands of lives. “In future, there will again be movements against extortionists and oppressors. When Islam is established, inequality will end,” he said.
Karim said the election must be held on time, conspiracies would not be tolerated and the government must ensure a level playing field.
Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-ameer A.T.M. Azharul Islam said Chattogram should be made a stronghold of Islam. “If this eight-party force comes to power, you will be the ones running the country. This country will no longer run on the strength of someone’s grandfather,” he said. He said Bangladesh would eventually reach a stage where foreigners would come to study and work there.
Other speakers at the rally included Khelafat Majlis secretary general Dr. Ahmad Abdul Quader, Bangladesh Nezam-e-Islam Party chief Principal Maulana Sarwar Kamal Azizi, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JaGPa) vice president and spokesperson Engineer Rashed Pradhan, and Bangladesh Development Party chairman Advocate A.K.M. Anwarul Islam Chan.
Eight-party leaders, including Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Dr. A.H.M. Hamidur Rahman Azad and central figures of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Nezam-e-Islam Party, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan and the Bangladesh Development Party, also addressed the rally.
Activists and supporters of the eight parties marched through Chattogram from the morning and converged at the historic Laldighi Maidan. The main program began at 1:45 p.m. and was presided over by Mamunul Haque. Activists chanted slogans backing the alliance’s five-point demand throughout the speeches.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report