CUMILLA, Bangladesh — The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has strayed from the ideals of its founder, Shaheed Ziaur Rahman, said Hasnat Abdullah, the National Citizen Party’s chief organizer for southern Bangladesh.
“The BNP has strayed from Shaheed Ziaur Rahman’s ideals. The party has moved away from its own principles since Aug. 5,” Abdullah said. “We welcome those who feel uncomfortable in BNP’s current environment. We will give you nominations. We will field qualified candidates in all 11 seats in Cumilla. We will announce our first-phase candidates within the first three weeks of November. With these announcements, we will launch NCP’s organizational election campaign.”
“We want a representative parliament, opposed to Indian dominance and free of fascism — a parliament that puts Bangladesh first,” he said.
Abdullah was speaking as chief guest at a coordination meeting of the NCP’s Cumilla city, Cumilla north and south district units at a restaurant hall in the city around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
“We want the next parliamentary elections to send those who put Bangladesh first, who believe in communal harmony, who oppose Indian dominance, who believe in this mass uprising, who believe in reform, and who understand that the popular demand brought about this revolution,” he said.
The coordination meeting was chaired by barrister Majharul Islam. Other speakers included central chief organizer and Cumilla divisional organizational secretary Md. Ataullah, central joint member secretary Alauddin Mohammad, Jaynal Abedin Shishir, central chief organizer Nahid Nawroze Shah, central members Hafsa Jahan and Salahuddin Jamil Saurav, and Cumilla city NCP chief coordinator Md. Sirajul Islam.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report