DHAKA — If there is no mutual understanding among political parties, bitterness will be created, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said. An understanding among the parties is therefore needed, he said.
He made the comments on Thursday afternoon at a discussion at the National Press Club marking the anniversary of the historic July-August mass uprising.
“In a democracy, there will be mudslinging. Many things will be said. But there should be a limit to this. Otherwise a bitterness will set in. That bitterness will further corrupt future politics. I hope we can move toward a better Bangladesh in the coming days,” he said.
The BNP secretary general said: “I believe we will come to government with the support of the people through an election. We will try to do the work we have promised to the people. Then we will go back to the people; if they accept us, we will return; if not, we will not. Everyone must be given the opportunity to express their opinion, everyone must be given the opportunity to speak, and an ordinary person must get the justice they deserve.”
The BNP leader said: “We have truly been liberated from servitude. From British servitude in 1947. After that, Pakistani servitude began. Then the servitude of new masters began in the country. We are still in that servitude. Servants develop a narrow mindset. They never get the opportunity to see things in a large way. I think we should try to see things in a large way. We want a free society. We want to build a free state.”
Criticizing the interim government for failing in a year to prepare a list of those killed in the July mass uprising, the BNP secretary general said: “Could those who are running the state today not find them in a year? Those who gave their lives to change this country?”
Referring to the case of a child injured in the mass uprising in Savar who had been fitted with an artificial skull, the secretary general said in a tearful voice: “Yesterday a 7-year-old child suddenly came up and hugged me. The child said, ‘I have no skull on my head, the skull is plastic.’ They have fitted an artificial skull made of plastic. What greater sacrifice can there be than this?”
Calling the consensus reached by political parties on fundamental issues of state reform “positive,” he said a rough idea of an early election had been obtained by resolving fundamental matters of state. “If elections are held in February, we will be able to overcome our hesitations and arrive at a common position,” he said.
Manabzamin editor-in-chief Matiur Rahman, Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman, New Age editor Nurul Kabir, Jaijaidin editor Shafik Rehman and Sangram editor Abul Asad were honored at the event for the persecution and harassment they faced in the anti-fascist movement and the July mass uprising over the past 15 years. Of them, Matiur Rahman and Mahmudur Rahman were handed crests by National Press Club president Hasan Hafiz, general secretary Abdul Bhuiya and committee members. The others could not attend the event as they were abroad or ill.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report